With three new openings in its ranks, Ector County ISD Police Chief Todd Hiner said they have interviewed several candidates and would like to bring them on board as soon as possible.
The added officers will bring the total to 32, including 31 full and one part-time officer.
The board of trustees on Oct. 18 approved a $12 million budget amendment that included $472,500 for new officers and related expenses, Ector County ISD Chief Communications Officer Mike Adkins said. The other items in the amendment were unrelated to the new officers.
Hiner said the equipment includes a dependable vehicle, weapons, tactical vests, uniforms, name tags, badges, radios and much more. He added that it’s costly to outfit an officer initially, but much of it is a one-time expense and they integrate it into their operational budget.
“We have already interviewed several. The big deal is once we’ve interviewed them, we’ll go through a selection (process). We’ll rank them based on the interview panel and then we’ll select who we feel are the best candidates,” Hiner said.
Candidates go through a comprehensive background check that is mandated by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. That agency regulates everything the department does, Hiner said.
He said TCOLE has always required background checks, but this year they introduced a background check form that you have to validate that has a check-off list of everything you’ve checked in a background. It is signed and notarized and uploaded to TCOLE to ensure accountability.
“It’s a little more work, but I believe it holds everyone accountable across the state, as it should,” Hiner said.
The new officers will offer better coverage for the elementary campuses and help with weekly safety audits at campuses. The audits take an hour to an hour and a half, sometimes two hours, per campus.
Police patrol 45 locations in ECISD. Audit times vary according to campus size. Portable buildings are also included.
“You’re actually physically walking around the campus. You’re physically walking around the exterior fence perimeter. You’re walking around the exterior of that building,” Hiner said.
Hiner said they are usually able to recruit experienced officers.
“However, regardless of their experience we still still put them through our own field training officer program,” he added. “It’s a 14-week program that they have to go through. … It’s a two part deal. We built that on the success of the officer to make sure that officer has the tools that they need to do the job here for the school district because it’s a little different.”
Hiner said he has worked at municipal and school district police departments.
“It’s just a different job. The difference is there’s a lot more resources that you have here that you can supply to the students to help them that you really didn’t have for the city,” he added. “You’ve got to identify what can we do to help this student. It’s really teaching them about utilizing those resources to maximize help for those students,” he said.
Sometimes the students just need guidance.
“Sometimes they make bad decisions and you just have to be there to … guide them so that they don’t make those bad decisions again,” Hiner said.
The training program is meant to help the officers achieve success and enhance their performance.
“On the same note, if that person is not what we thought they would be … they can get cut from the program. So it’s a pass or fail type of program, but we gear it toward success. Usually when you have an experienced police officer that has some years of service, you already know that they know how to do the job,” he said.
It’s teaching the candidates how the district does things differently than another agency. The pass/fail scenario is more for people who have come straight out the police academy.
“We haven’t had people that have applied with us that are straight out of the academy,” Hiner said.
At one time, there was a perception that going to a district police department would be easier than a municipal one.
“At the inception of those types of police departments, I think that it was thought of as a retirement gig where somebody could go. … With the things that we’re seeing on campuses across the nation, I think that people are realizing that you need a strong skill set,” Hiner said. “I think that’s kind of going away for the most part.”
He added that he has worked at ECISD for years and they haven’t had that problem, but he’s seen it in other independent school district departments. Hiner has been ECISD police chief for eight years.
There seems to be a lot more to deal with on school campuses these days. ECISD has been seeing a string of arrests for threats and students bringing weapons to school.
He said he agreed with a recent opinion piece in the Odessa American that training is critical for district police officers.
He added that police in schools should be embraced. There should be a good balance.
“I really think there’s got to be a good balance. I really think that there should be some more emphasis on mental health as well,” Hiner said.
“Nothing is above protecting our kids,” he said.
He added that this is coming to the forefront across America. Hiner said they are not just encountering kids, but young adults who are up to age 21.
“Then we’re also dealing with the parents of the kids and so when you think 34,000-35,000 students that we have here, you also have to consider the parents that coming to those campuses, so we need officers that are well trained not just in dealing with kids, but dealing with a multitude of different areas …,” Hiner said.
The 14-week field training has three phases. A mentor police officer is with the candidate.
“Each one of those are about four weeks long. The last two weeks are actually what’s called the ghost phase. The ghost phase is actually where that police officer’s with them, but they’re kind of a ghost. They’re just shadowing. They’re not there to give them guidance. They’re there to grade them. That two weeks is actually a pass or fail. Keep in mind, we also build in what’s called remedial time so it that person actually has remedial time that we can try to use that’s actually calculated and validated to address any deficiency …,” Hiner said.
If they have a candidate that has an area they need to work on, the department will use that time to help the candidate.
“And then we’ll assess them again and then put them back into the ghost phase to … where they’re being rated. So they have really 12 weeks to get their act together to make you know in this police department, for lack of better term. Then the two weeks is that is there to to for the field training officer to watch them and observe that person. Then if they run out of remedial time and we haven’t remedied the problem, they lose their job,” Hiner said.
As a side note, the chief plans to retire Dec. 16. He has his own business called Chief Pest Services.
Hiner has been in the industry for about 10 years and in business for about four.
“… I’ve got doctors’ offices; lawyers’ offices. I’ve got medical facilities, lots of oilfield companies,” Hiner said.
He also wants to focus on his children and grandchildren.
“I’m 55, so I’m fairly young,” Hiner said.
He added that he’s in good health, which is huge.
“… I’ve been the chief for eight years. The work we’ve done, we’ve left it in a better place. I’m proud of those things and proud of those processes that we put in place. The field training program was one that I I adopted. It was my idea. … (The) internal affairs division, that was my idea and investigator; weapons canine. Those are some things that I wanted to improve and bring to the department,” Hiner said.
