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Oklahoma Highway Patrol dumps academy training for troopers
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Citing budget woes, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol has announced it won't hold its intensive training academy for new recruits next year.
The OHP is currently under fire for the actions of Trooper Daniel Martin, right, for his brawl with paramedic Maurice White, who was caring for a patient enroute to the hospital. Patrol officials resolutely stonewalled the case until they were forced into releasing the dashcam video.
Martin's attorney, Gary James, called Martin "a hometown hero," while a petition to fire Martin gained thousands of signatures.
While background investigation revealed some problems in both men's employment history, it turned out that Martin, the man with the gun and the ower, was fired as police chief of Fairfax, OK for being a bully. "we had a lot of trouble with him," one community leader said.
Somehow the OHP hired Martin despite the firing and the complaints from Fairfax leaders and citizens. Now, it seems, the OHP has decided that their troopers need less training, and not more.
Here's how the OHP bally-hooed its academy:
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol academy is very structured, consistent with the para-military organization of the Patrol. During academy training, cadets will be challenged academically, physically, and mentally. A typical day begins with physical training, drill and ceremony, and inspections, prior to the classroom instruction. The evening hours are used for course studies, assignment completions, practical exercises, and preparation for the following day. The workdays for cadets vary from 12 to 18 hours. Cadets going into an academy are strongly encouraged to be in top physical condition. This will assist them in achieving the success of completion.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol academy is 17 weeks in length. Cadets reside at the academy, located at the Robert R. Lester Training Center, 3600 N. Martin Luther King Blvd. in Oklahoma City, for the duration of the academy.
OHP officials say that a tight budget led them to the academy decision, which will save them $3 million dollars. They said that they'll still continue to recruit and train new troopers, although they didn't specify the training.
The academy recently graduated 25 new recruits. It's not the first time that the OHP has not used the Academy, but the timing, given the flap over Martin's on-camera brawl, seems well, strange.
Another strange thing--the OHP found money to invest in the new dashboard cameras, which were paid for with public tax dollars. The cameras are used by public servants in a government job.
Nonetheless, the OHP and the state declared dashcam videos basically private--not a matter of public record, and not an officials court record. The OHP non-disclosure policy is a rare one, as any TV or YouTube viewer knows.
It's time for someone to look into the management of the Oklahoma HIghway Patrol. Included in that oversight should be a panel that includes citizens, and police experts from outside the state --and definitely from outside Oklahoma politics.
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