MANSFIELD – The Mansfield Police Department is up to a complete force of 86 officers after swearing in four new officers to the force on Monday.
Bryan Nieman, Mark Boggs, Roland Flick and Alan Swaggard all took their official oath of office in Mansfield Council chambers on Monday. The four men will be assigned to the Special Operations Bureau Professional Standards Section and will serve as Probationary Police Officers for a period of 12 months.
Mansfield Police Chief Ken Coontz warned the new officers’ families present on Monday that they will see their loved ones change over their tenure as police officers.
“We’re going to mentor them as officers and as young men, and we will definitely instill our core values – honor, integrity, respect, and professionalism,” Coontz said. “You’ll see those things come out in these gentlemen.”
Capt. Bret Snavely also reassured the families present that the four new officers would be going through extensive, on-the-job training before officially heading out on the job.
“They’re not going to put a uniform on and go on the street tomorrow,” Snavely said. “They’re going to go through 14 weeks of intensive training with an experienced coach sitting right by their side. These guys didn’t just apply, they made it through an exhaustive background and hiring process, and these were the cream that rose to the top.”
According to Coontz, training first involves learning administrative policy and all aspects of the Mansfield Police Department’s work. After that, each new officer will be assigned to a new field training officer every month for three months to learn on the job.
“He then has to go back to his first field training officer to do a checkout ride,” Coontz said. “During that two-week ride, the training officer dresses in plain clothes and doesn’t interfere, just observes.”
Coontz noted that the four officers sworn in on Monday were unique in that they had already graduated from the police academy and achieved certification in law enforcement, they just were not certified with an official police department.
“These four guys came to us already certified; some had been police officers at other departments,” Coontz said. “They have the benefit of coming here already trained, and already knowing the job. Their chances of being successful are greater than a kid coming out of the academy.”
The greatest chance for success with the new officers was integrating themselves into the community they will be serving, Coontz said.
“We are all about the community policing philosophy here, and our officers are expected to engage the community,” he said. “It really is about a partnership between the police department and the community, that’s what makes this such a great place to live in.”
