UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Tuesday, January 11, 1994
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Lester Newey, Riley County Police Department, argues with Randall Ritchie, Hutchison Police Department, as he is cuffed. Newey, playing a felon, had a concealed handgun that Ritchie failed to find.
Training to be the best
*Mary Poppins*, the "murdered" mannequin, lies on the floor as William Pushee, Riley County Police Department, takes notes on the scene.
Blood covered Mary Poppins' lifeless body as she lay on her bedroom floor.
But Officer William Pushee laughed as he wrote her name into his notebook. Were Mary Poppins a real person instead of a mannequin, and the blood real instead of fake, Pushee might have been more serious.
Pushee and 55 other officers from various cities in Kansas participated in the University of Kansas Law Enforcement Center's criminal investigation simulation. The center annually trains approximately 300 police officers.
All new officers must complete at least 320 hours of basic training during their eight weeks at the center. Most of the time is spent in the classroom learning the laws of the state, but during the last week of classes
officers deal with realistic problems they might encounter in the field.
In addition to the murder investigation, officers participate in a felony car-stop simulation. These are more dangerous than regular traffic stops because the officers deal with more serious criminals.
The criminals are played by classmates who attempt to complicate the situation. Tricks some classmates use to hide handguns and handcuffs include placing them near their crotch or between their breasts, where police are less likely to search.
The center was established in 1968 by the Kansas Legislature to standardize police officer training in the state. It is run by the Division of Continuing Education and is funded entirely by criminal court docket fees.
Photos and story by John Gamble
Evidence from the murder scene must be properly tagged and accounted for at all times. If the officer loses track of a piece of evidence for even a short amount of time, a defense attorney can raise doubts about whether the evidence has been handled properly.
An officer puts down one of his classmates before placing him into his police car, which was once the property of the KU police. When KU police received their new cars, the University of Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center received the old ones for training purposes.
William Pushee, Riley County Police Department, holds his hands above his head as David Cox, Republic County Sheriff's Department, practices taking him into custody.