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Tanner's decision to step away from pushing for a local academy on the news that the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy would improve its game shows he means it.
Tanner went to Columbia earlier this month to ask the S.C. Law Enforcement Training Council to approve his plan for a 26-week pilot program in Beaufort County. He said he dropped the plan after the council decided to add more training time. The academy program is to go from nine weeks to 12 weeks, a big jump but still behind the 15 weeks most states require.
Tanner should continue to do the additional training he wants for his officers here, and he should continue to push to improve statewide training. His officers, and officers across the state, will benefit from that. The academy provides a baseline of training for all departments in the state. There's immense value to consistent policing standards across South Carolina.
In fact, state law requires all police officers in the state to get initial training at the academy. That was affirmed in an opinion from the state Attorney General's Office in August.
One of Tanner's criticisms of the academy training was that it didn't include enough in-the-field training for officers. Academy officials apparently heard him. Hubert Harrell, the academy's director, said the revised curriculum will include more hands-on instruction.
Clearly, the academy could stand improving. The Post & Courier reported earlier this year that the academy, which trains and monitors about 16,000 law enforcement officers in South Carolina, was once a model for other states to follow. But years of inattention and under-funding have taken their toll. A 2007 study from the University of South Carolina found the academy's nine weeks of basic training to be the third lowest in the nation.
This year, the academy's budget is $22 million. The money comes primarily from traffic fines collected by municipal and county magistrate courts across the state. Local police departments pay for the cadets' uniforms and travel expenses to Columbia, but the academy pays for recruits' tuition and room and board.
Harrell says he doesn't expect more money to come his way, and the academy will try to make the best possible use of its resources.
But he also said he had informed the legislature that he would need to hire at least seven new instructors because of the expanded training.
Lawmakers should heed that request. Public safety is a fundamental government service. Better trained officers should translate to greater public safety.
