The city of Charleston welcomed a new police officer to the force on Thursday. But this patrolman already has some experience.
Kevin Day took the oath of office at city hall. For the past four years, he’s been a member of the Parkersburg Police Department. He decided to make the move to Charleston because of the department offers more opportunities and the chance for advancement.
Day says he’s got a good feel for what’s expected out of a Charleston Police Officer.
“I went to the academy with a couple of Charleston guys, so they’ve filled me in on what to expect,” Day said.
Charleston Police Chief Brent Webster says the benefit to getting an officer transferring from another department is that they don’t need to be sent to the academy and can be out on the streets working a beat in much less time than a brand new cadet. But there’s still a learning curve.
“We’re bringing someone in that still has to learn our polices, still hase to learn our procedures, still has to learn the layout and how we do things in Charleston,” according to Webster.
Day won’t be the only new officer starting with the force on Monday. A cadet graduates from the academy on Friday and will join Day for the Field Training program. It lasts 16 weeks.
“They’ll ride with another officer that will scrutinize every move and that’s for teaching purposes, creating confidence and giving us an opportunity to make sure they’re fit to go out on their own,” Webster said.
Adding Day to the force brings the number of officers to 159. That’s just four short of full manpower for the department.