Sherwood Police Department hires six more officers
By Greg Rayburn / Editor / grayburn@sherwoodvoice.com
Thursday, June 18, 2009 12:07 PM CDT
The Sherwood Police Department has hired six officers as part of a program to fill 12 vacancies.
Police Capt. Scott McFarland said the new officers were brought into the department late last week.
“We hired six officers from the top 19 positions on the civil service examination,” McFarland said. “We still have 65 names on the list.”
A total of 81 of the 110 people who took the test in the spring passed. Everyone who took the test received a letter indicating how they performed. This year, 170 people have signed up to take the test.
For applicants to pass, they needed to score at least a 70 percent.
Of the six new officers, three will have to attend the state police academy in Camden to complete their training as police officers, McFarland said.
The other three officers have worked in law enforcement so do not need to go to Camden, he said.
The three experienced officers have worked on the force of UAMS, part-time for Ward’s Police Department and Jacksonville’s Police Department, and at Camp Robinson, McFarland said.
The three officers to get training in Camden should be starting their classes on July 5 while the three experienced officers will be appointed a field training officer to start their on-the-job training, McFarland said.
Typically, the on-the-job training lasts 12 weeks.
Of the six officers, one is a woman, McFarland said.
McFarland said he is excited about the new staff.
“They were all really enthusiastic and said they were ready to work for the Sherwood Police Department,” McFarland said.
McFarland said Sherwood doesn’t have a hard time attracting new officers because it has a good reputation as being a professionally managed police department.
Once all 12 posts are filled, the department will have a company of 73 officers.
Some of the officers are being brought on board to deal with the loss of six officers assigned to Gravel Ridge when it was annexed into Sherwood last year. The remaining incoming officers will include policemen in narcotics, detectives, traffic, and patrol divisions, Williams said.
Some of the new staff are being brought on board to replace five open spots where officers either retired or found work elsewhere.
McFarland said even though there have been some retirements and turnover of personnel, there are more than enough officers remaining to mentor and provide field training to the new recruits.
