After finishing, Vela and the firearms instructor reviewed his shots within the target’s circle.
“I’m learning,” he said. “It’s getting better.”
Steven Stephenson, a former Army military policeman, called the firearms training “excellent.”
“It’s a blast,” he said. “I’m really enjoying it; it’s good training, good instructors.”
Vela and Stephenson are two of five members of the Temple Police Department’s first police academy.
For both men, the academy is a chance to make their goals a reality.
“It’s actually something I’ve always been interested in,” Vela said. “I fell into another line of work and made a lot of money. I found out that money’s not everything.”
With the support of his wife, Vela said he applied to the department after a friend who is an officer told him the city was hiring.
“I’ve always enjoyed working with people,” he said. “This is another way for me to help people. I’ve lived here pretty much all my life ... I have kids who go to Temple schools, I want to make it a safer place, give back and help.”
For Stephenson, law enforcement runs through his veins.
“My sister, brother, father and mother were all police officers,” he said. “It’s kind of in the blood.”
Stephenson served in the military police while in the Army and was stationed at Fort Hood. He also served a tour in Iraq.
“It was all about keeping you and your buddies alive,” he said about his time in southern Baghdad. “It was very intense there, very intense.”
After leaving the Army, Stephenson, a California native, sought a job with Temple Police Department.
“I’d like to be somebody people look up to and help people with their problems,” he said.
Four of the five cadets are former military and Sgt. Allen Teston said former soldiers often make good police officers.
“Our structure is similar to the military. There’s less to teach them how to function under our structure,” he said. “Some of these guys coming back from the war have already been tested under high-pressure situations and survived.”
After completing four months of basic police training, the cadets will undergo 22 weeks of field training in which they will work with a training officer. Gradually, the cadet will take over duties until the training officer is merely observing.
“Any time during the 18 months, if the training officers feel they are not suitable, they can be released without cause,” Teston said. “After 18 months, the civil service protection kicks in and we have to show cause.”
Teston said the department has held an academy license for years but opted to actually hold their first academy now for several reasons.
“We’ve been working short-handed for a while,” he said. “This is a way to drastically increase the numbers.”
Six officers recently finished the Central Texas College Regional Police Academy and are now in field training. Teston said it would be difficult for the department to take in 11 officers for field training at one time if all had gone through the academy together.
Also, due to a change in Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards, the department must have a basic police officer training academy every two years to maintain its academy license.
“It was a good time to increase the number of officers because of the new rules,” Teston said.
On June 1, Temple hired the five cadets, who began the academy on June 29.
They’ve spent the past two months studying the penal code, police ethics and control tactics, plus being hit with pepper spray.
“Honestly, it was one of the worst things I’ve ever experienced,” Vela said. “It hurt.”
This week cadets headed out of the classroom to the firing range. While they started with basic marksmanship, they progressed to pressure shooting and threat assessment, in which they would enter a house constructed of sand-filled tires to look for armed and unarmed targets.
“They have to assess very fast and engage only the armed,” Teston said.
Although the police department has seen an increase in ammunition prices by an average of 30 percent, Teston said officers would shoot as many times as it would take.
“We’ll not skimp because of the price,” he said. “They’ll shoot as many rounds as they need to become proficient with the weapon.”
jsicking@temple-telegram.com
