Police officers at the San Marcos Police Department are undergoing in-training this week, where they’ll receive refreshers on gun training, tactical training and are put through simulations.
This week’s training is one of 11 in-training sessions the department is holding for its officers this year. Texas requires peace officers to have 40 hours of training every two years but SMPD tries to double what the state requires.
“The state requirement is the basic minimum standard,” said Erin Clewell, SMPD sergeant, range coordinator and range master. “You know, we would like to go over above and not necessarily just meet the minimum standard, you know, by doubling it. And we strive to do that every year, I'm not going to say that every officer gets 80 every two years, minimally, they'll have 40. Some end up having, you know, 75, and some have 120. So we make them come to this, but then during the course of the year, there's also other kinds of elective training that they go to.”
