SPRINGFIELD, Mo., May 9, 2023 – Drury University’s Law Enforcement Academy will now provide students in the West Plains area access to their training program. Through the mirror academy, lectures will be taught synchronously with the Springfield campus, allowing students outside of Springfield to attend the academy online in real-time. This partnership makes Drury the sole provider of law enforcement academy training in a nine-county region.
“This is a needed service for rural law enforcement agencies because their location often makes it difficult to access academy training,” said Chris Johns, executive director of the Drury Law Enforcement Academy. “Drury’s law enforcement academy has a reputation of producing excellent officers, and we now have an avenue to expand access to high-quality training opportunities in south central Missouri.”
The Drury University Law Enforcement Academy is certified by the State of Missouri Department of Public Safety and provides 750 hours of basic training for those interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement. Roughly 60 percent of the academy is taught in the classroom and, under the new model, will be livestreamed for offsite students. The other 40 percent consists of tactical, hands-on training courses that will be taught by Drury instructors at Shield Solutions LLC, a well-known training provider and trusted partner for law enforcement officers in the West Plains area.
Douglas County Sheriff Chris Degase says planning for this new program began years ago and Drury staff, including Drury GO site coordinator, Jacquelyn Whiteman, Shield Solutions and local law enforcement have worked closely to make it a reality. “This academy will be vital to law enforcement in south central Missouri by ensuring that local Agencies will have quality local applicants to choose from. It is essential that we recruit locally to ensure we have applicants who are invested in their hometown communities. We have found that hiring those vested in their communities tend to stay with their departments.”
The first mirror academy will begin on June 5, and the deadline to apply is May 22. Applications can be found online at drury.edu/go/law-enforcement.
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Media Contact: Jasmine Cooper, Director of University Communications and Media Relations – (417) 873-7390 or JCooper020@drury.edu.
