While the issue at hand about the Evansville police force is much larger than counting bullets, I do not recall being allowed to shoot a second or even a third qualification course after I have successfully qualified with my first 25 rounds qualification course. Â The qualification course round count was once 20 rounds (9,8&3) until a recent change in the qualification course.
And I would ask you to look deeper into the data. Â I would ask how many officers are sent to remedial training. Â I would contend that a large percentage of the sworn officers on the Evansville Police Department have not had access to the possible extra 500 rounds of remedial training.
As I noted on April 21, 2023 to a letter to the Courier & Press, the point is not the number of bullets. Â The point is law enforcement in Evansville needs more support, resources, additional training, and competitive pay to be set up to succeed in addressing the rise in crime in our city.
We do have a yearly firearms training. Â But a large majority of our membership would tell you it is not enough. In 2022, I personally had approximately 12 hours of firearms training. Â I am paid as a police officer for 2,080 hours a year. Â That is less than 1 percent of my time on the job dedicated to firearms training.
And then there is the issue of who pays for it.
We have a world class SWAT team, and they encourage sworn officers to train with them. Unfortunately, the Evansville Police Department will not supply ammunition to those wanting extra training. Â Instead, officers have to pay for the ammunition out of their own pockets and train on their own time.
There are tools available to officers to be more proficient in firearms use, and those tools are approved by the Evansville Police Department. But at this time, officers have to pay for the gun, optics and ammunition to go through the training to be qualified to carry on duty as an Evansville police officer.
And then there is the challenge of filling vacancies on the police force.
The Evansville Police Department is struggling to fill vacancies. Only 17 applications have been received so far for the May hiring process – and yet five applicants in the current process have withdrawn to take jobs with other nearby law enforcement agencies.  Our pay compared to other municipal police departments throughout the state is not competitive to recruit qualified applicants (2023 Salary Report INPRS). Currently, the Evansville Police Department is ranked approximately 30th in pay in relation to other municipal police departments in the State of Indiana.  This is a hurdle in filling our vacancies.
Although I agree there are a number of factors that lead to higher crime, that doesn’t change the fact that officers must be set up to succeed in fighting that crime when it threatens our community.
And right now, the Evansville Police Department needs more support, more training, and better pay to continue to protect the good people of this city. Nitpicking the number of bullets just to score a political jab – particularly at someone who is working to help provide that support – does our community a disservice.
Sincerely,
Aaron McCormick
President
Fraternal Order of Police #73
