Columbia, Boone County go their own way to train law enforcement recruits

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Mike Hestir paces the front of a room. He’s discussing firearm use and grip techniques with 14 recruits to the Columbia Police Department in the newly renovated basement of a law office that the city purchased.

The recruits take notes on paper and tablets with the CPD logo and the emblem for Lincoln University plastered as the background. Hestir, a retired veteran of CPD who is now working as a police trainer, shares proper firing range etiquette in preparation for their training later that day.

The group is making history.

The November 2024 recruit class is the first in the city to learn through CPD’s new in-house academy. The city partnered with LU’s POST-accredited law enforcement training school to give new hires the state-required training to work as a peace officer. CPD, however, has put its own touch to it - rather than having recruits travel to Jefferson City for their courses, the new hires learn CPD policies and procedures alongside those the state mandates.

Columbia Police Chief Jill Schlude said the command staff at CPD has considered an in-house training program for years. She hopes the idea improves recruitment at the department and helps give recruits more specific examples of how the job works in Columbia versus what a law enforcement school would offer.

“One of the things we talk about here is really trying to build what I refer to as brand loyalty to CPD,” Schlude told ABC 17 News. “So having people come in and say, you know, not only do I want to be a police officer, but I want to be a police officer at the Columbia Police Department because of the community, the environment, the way we do policing in our community.”

Comobuz published a story in August with Boone County Sheriff Dwayne Carey’s thoughts on the program. Carey said city leaders were “jealous” of the county’s planned regional training center being built near the sheriff’s office north of Columbia. The story also said that Carey accused Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe of contacting University of Missouri officials about its Law Enforcement Training Institute partnering with the county at its new center.

In an email sent Aug. 22 obtained by ABC 17 News, Buffaloe called for a meeting with city and county leaders, including Carey. She said she feared the two governmental agencies had become “accidental adversaries” over the decision, and wanted to talk about law enforcement training. The meeting ended up taking place on Sept. 4, with Buffaloe, Carey, Schlude, Boone County presiding commissioner Kip Kendrick and Columbia City Manager De’Carlon Seewood all taking part.

Buffaloe told ABC 17 News that she hoped to dispel notions that the city and county were at odds on the issue of law enforcement training.

“I just wanted to, rather than lean into that tension, I wanted to actually lean into the collaboration,” Buffaloe said. “And so I called for us all to get together and have a conversation, talk a little bit about what the story was but also what are we doing moving forward to really think about public safety in central Missouri.”

Carey would not comment on the August story, but Capt. Brian Leer told ABC 17 News that it did spark the idea for the meeting.

“Any type of adversary relationship between our two law enforcement agencies is not positive for those we all serve and not the direction we want things to go,” Leer said. “We will continue focusing forward to bring the best service to those we serve while working with our regional partners.”

The CPD training academy takes place in the basement of the Turner building on North Seventh Street, right next to the department’s headquarters. The city pays LU $3,900 per student. A memo to the city council in August said this would save money compared to LETI, which charges $5,500 per recruit.

The remodeled floor, which cost the city $150,000, now features a classroom and office space for the staff. A mat room for physical training is still under construction. 

Schlude said the in-house training gives recruits a chance to learn CPD policies directly. She said new officers would sometimes have to learn techniques specific to CPD once they graduated the academy and started field training in Columbia. 

“You come in and your field training officer says ‘I know what you learned in academy, that’s not how we do it here,’” Schlude said. “And so the recruits are instantly deflated because they’re like, ‘Well I just went through 16 to 20 weeks going through this and now they’re telling me that’s not the way it really works here.’”

Schlude said CPD has so far staffed its training program with retired Columbia police officers. The CPD academy involves 730 hours of training, 130 hours above the state requirement for peace officers. POST requires schools teach recruits and sworn officers yearly about racial profiling, de-escalation and implicit bias.

CPD’s academy model allows them to add on to those required sessions. Schlude added ICAT training on top of the standard de-escalation training for CPD. ICAT, or Integrating Communications, Assessment, and Tactics, was developed by the Police Executive Research Forum for “a new way of thinking about use-of-force training for American police officers.”

Buffaloe said she was encouraged by CPD’s academy model. She said she hoped it would help recruits serve the community more quickly and improve the effectiveness of their learning.

“It’s really about getting them getting them out, trained and on the streets doing their jobs,” Buffaloe said. “So any time I can shorten that time so they can be learning everything they need to and get to work, that makes our community safer.”

In Boone County, the sheriff’s office is eyeing a January 2026 opening date for its regional law enforcement training center. The county partnered with the University of Missouri Extension for the sheriff’s office to “provide leadership to LETI” and “direct supervision of LETI personnel in accordance with University policy and procedure.” An advisory board will “inform and advise leadership on academy instruction and curriculum.” 

Kendrick said the city’s academy plan would not negatively affect the county’s center, and that the city would still have a spot on LETI’s advisory board.

“The City will also have continuing education opportunities at the regional training center,” Kendrick said. “We both wish the City well in this endeavor and if it doesn’t work out for whatever reason, then I’m confident that Sheriff will be happy to welcome them back to LETI at the regional training center.”

Schlude said LETI’s continued work in Mid-Missouri gives her confidence to pursue the in-house academy idea.

“Just being perfectly honest, if we try the experiment with the academy and it doesn't work, we have a perfect safety net, because LETI is still here,” Schlude said. “So if there wasn't a safety net, I would be probably be a lot more nervous. But sometimes you have to take risks. Sometimes you have to try to see if something's wanting to work, to move the ball forward.”