A new training program is being implemented throughout Minnesota to assist agencies facing staffing shortages.
It’s called Intensive Comprehensive Peace Officer Education and Training (ICPOET), and it offers grant funding to assist with hiring.
The Minnesota Legislature established the program, and 46 law enforcement agencies across the state have received funding to sponsor 94 candidates with two- and four-year degrees who want to make a career change.
Shawn Kelly is one of the newest students at Hennepin Technical College, having left his 12-year career as a pastor to become a cop.
“We’ve experienced great police work and we’ve seen when police work doesn’t go all that well, so I think with those experiences we’re excited to be part of the next wave,” Kelly said of the 22-week training program. “We’ve had government workers, insurance agents, we’ve seen people just coming out of school and we’ve had people that have been in their profession for over 20 years that are navigating their next phase of their life.”
He will join the New Brighton Police Department and must meet the same rigorous requirements as all other candidates, including passing the Peace Officer Licensing Exam.
The departments must apply for the $50,000 grants, which include Hopkins, Farmington, Brooklyn Park, Fridley, and others.
“This isn’t something we could do, as a department our size, with our budget,” said Wyoming Police Chief Neil Bauer. “There’s been programs in the past, this is just one more pathway for people to get into law enforcement and tapping into people that might not have been able to in the past.”
Bauer recently hired Logan Strang, who was sworn in this month after finishing the ICOPET program. Bauer stated that it took years to fill the position, with over 40 candidates. He now has eleven officers in his department.
“I feel like I’m better off in this career where I am in life than where I was five years ago,” said Strang, who relocated from out of state after working for the Department of Natural Resources.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do it if it wasn’t a grant program, just where I am in life now and going through school once already,” Strang told me.
Candidates who complete the training are hired as employees by the law enforcement agency that sponsored them. The expected commitment may vary from agency to agency.
In this year’s biennial budget, Governor Walz proposes an additional $2 million for the program. His office says there is even availability until 2029. The proposal could result in an additional 80 law enforcement officers throughout the state.
Lawmakers are working to pass the budget by May 19, the constitutional deadline, which must be met before July 1 to avoid a state government shutdown.