73rd Springfield Police Academy Set to Graduate

Ten men are about to officially become Springfield police officers.

The 73rd Springfield Police Academy graduates Friday night in a 7 p.m. ceremony at Park Crest Baptist Church, 816 west Republic Road.

Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the ceremony will be closed to the public, but will be live-streamed on the SPD Facebook page and the city’s website.

The ten graduates have undergone 1,060 hours (27 weeks) of intense law enforcement training.

After graduation, they will be assigned to an experienced field training officer for about 13 weeks of on-the-job training.

After completing the FTO program, the new officers will be assigned to the Uniform Operations Bureau.

Six of the grads have a bachelor’s degree, one has an associates degree, and four have prior or current military experience.