Bowling Green city officials to vote on potential Bowling Green Police Academy

BOWLING GREEN, Ky.- The Bowling Green Police Department is taking the next step toward having its very own, in house, police academy.

Police officials say they are excited to take their department to another level and to speed up the process of training new officers for duty.

BGPD already has a training team in place as well as a facility to train, so no major expenses are expected with this new academy.

The Bowling Green Academy will also allow smaller class sizes.

Tuesday afternoon, the Bowling Green Commission will vote on the idea.

Mayor Bruce Wilkerson, a former police officer, said he’s having a hard time finding the downside to the idea.

“We don’t anticipate it costing us any more, but it will certainly save us in the long run for the amount of time it takes to get a police officer from the date of hire to the day we can turn him loose on the street,” said Wilkerson.

If commissioners approve the proposal, the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council will still have to vote on the academy to finalize the decision.

“We’ve already begun working on the classes and all the things that are necessary and then we’ll have to have some of the instructors trained specifically to meet the requirements of the academy and then they will also come and inspect our facility to make sure that it’s suitable,” said Ronnie Ward, Bowling Green Police Department.