Champaign Police Department welcomes largest graduating class ever from training institute

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — There are some new faces joining the Champaign Police Department and they’re setting a record. It’s the department’s biggest graduating class ever.

They had a total of nine staffers go through the training institute.

Lieutenant Kurt Buckley said Champaign Police’s new marketing campaign played a big role. He said the department isn’t fully staffed yet, but they’re on the right track.

“I think it’s more or less it’s like, you know, we need numbers. And these nine recruits are, they help us get there,” Buckley said. “And as far as like where those numbers go, well, everyone starts on patrol. And then from there, you know, they can go to different areas of the department.”

He said they have four more recruits who just started the process. As for the ones who just graduated, their next step is completing the field training program.

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