The university will likely review if it will continue to employofficers with the same amount of training that Robert Duplain had,Heather Shupp, executive director of university affairs, saidThursday.
Duplain, 24, killed fourth-year student Michael McKinneySaturday morning. Duplain was responding to a burglary call afterthe resident of 1325 North St. call 911. McKinney was banging onthe resident's door, according to reports.
Duplain and another officer passed a 40-hour pre-basic trainingcourse and a 14-week field training program, but they have notattended the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy, Gene Burton, directorof public safety, said.
Shupp said the university routinely looks at policy that sparkscontroversy.
Burton said UPD has not looked into making changes in policyyet.
Burton said he thinks the university should consider to continueusing non-certified officers because cutting them would create ashortage in patrolling campus.
In the field-training program required by UPD, the officer isassigned a mentor to observe. Eventually, the officer takes on moreresponsiblities, and the mentor observes the officer.
Before officers are allowed to participate in the field-trainingprogram, they must complete a 40-hour orientation course about thecampus, Burton said.
Under Indiana law, officers are allowed to carry guns and patrolthe streets for a year if they have completed the pre-basictraining course offered by ILEA. Before the year is over, they mustalso graduate from the academy.
Speculation has arose, however, that Duplain did not have enoughtraining to carry a gun.
Pre-basic training teaches officers how to safely handle andcare for a firearm, Perry Hollowell, ILEA Inservice TrainingDirector, said.
Officers must also complete field training at a shooting range.They are awarded points for each hit and must shoot with an 80percent accuracy to pass, Hollowell said.
Hollowell said the physical training also allows instructors toobserve the students and how comfortable they are with guns.
In field training, officers are taught to shoot at the largestportion of the torso, Hollowell said.
"The idea of any use of weapon is to terminate a threat in theshortest time possible," Hollowell said.
Michael Collins, Ohio Police Corps executive director, saidpeople shouldn't expect officers to shoot the arms or legs.
"Anybody that thinks that you can shoot to wound is nuts,"Collins said.
The Ohio Police Corps does not have an equivalency of pre-basictraining, and Collins said he thinks allowing an officer to patrolthe streets with a firearm is wrong, he said.
"Just because you taught a person how to use a weapon doesn'tmean you taught them respect for the law and the rights of otherindividuals," Collins said.
Illinois, however, also uses a pre-basic training program andallows officers to carry a firearm after successfully completingthe program, according to Thomas Jurkanin, executive director ofthe Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board.
Indiana and Illinois once allowed officers to carry a firearmwithout previous training.
Hollowell said that the Indiana's pre-basic training program wasadded in 1993, and legislators aren't pushing for change now, Sen.Charles Meeks -- of the Criminal, Civil and Public Policy Committee-- said.
"I have no criticism of academy training," Meeks said. "That hasproduced hundreds of dedicated officers."
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