PEORIA, Ill. — The Peoria Police Department swore in 10 new recruits Monday, increasing those sworn in to the department to 216.
A large crowd of family and friends gathered to witness the new recruits take their oaths and become a part of the PPD.
Chief Loren Marion III said it is an exciting day.
“The goal is 229, the more that we can hire the better,” Marion said. “We have seven slots for the academy in May.”
Now that the 10 recruits have sworn in, Marion said they have more training to go through.
“It takes about 10 months before the officer can work the street by themselves. Because they go through the training academy which is 14 weeks. Then, they go through a 28 week field training officer program,” Marion said. “So, this group here, in probably October they’ll be on the street by themselves.”
The increased number of staff helps with the self sufficient police department.
“We have our own specialized units. So, we have our own SWAT team, our own bomb unit. And, actually our bomb unit covers the central Illinois region. We have our own traffic unit. So, we investigate our own accidents, up to and including fatalities,” Marion said. “We have K-9 unit. We have a detective bureau that has several separate specialties within the investigations division.”
Other units inside the PPD include a vice and narcotics unit, a street crime unit, a resident officer program, and a nuisance and abatement unit.
“We very seldom call on outside agencies to assist us,” Marion said.
For the new recruits, Marion said he had two things of advice for them.
“One, when you start struggling, because they will struggle in the training program. I don’t care who you are, it’s going to be a struggle. And it’s kind of designed for that, because we want to make sure we have the best officers serving the community,” Marion said. “When you start struggling, remember the enthusiasm and the feeling they had today to move forward.”
His second piece of advice for the recruits is to treat others the way that you want to be treated.
“Treat people with respect, and they will give you respect in return,” Marion said.
