Training

Training Coordinator: Lt. John Post

Lt. Post maintains and monitors the departments training needs, which includes required training throughout the year as well as additional training to meet the ever changing need in law enforcement today.

The department prides itself in having some of the best trained officers in several different fields of expertise. Currently the department has four Accident Reconstruction Investigators with the latest in diagramming and measuring equipment available. The department detectives also receive several training course throughout each year in crime scene investigation, interviewing and interrogation, computer crimes and other fields of training in addition to their required hours set forth by the State.

The department also provides additional training to the patrol division on top of their required State training yearly. Patrol Officers receive additional training in interviewing and interrogation, drug trafficking, domestic violence, etc.

The department also has five training instructors who provide training in Interview and Interrogation, Statement Analysis, Accident Investigation, Crime Scene Investigation, Firearms, Taser, Basic SWAT, Advanced SWAT, and Domestic Violence.

Bridgeport Police Department Firing Range

Retired Lt. Roy Collins worked diligently through 2006 and part of 2007 to see that the department had its own Firing Range, where officers could conduct training. Lt. Collins worked with City Officials to obtain the property and coordinated efforts with the Public Works Department in the construction phase. When Lt. Collins retired in 2008 the range building was completed on the outside and the concrete down range had been put in place with a perimeter fence. The range itself offers officers the ability to training with pistols, shotguns, and patrol rifles out to 75 yards.

In 2009, under the direction of Chief John Walker, officers from the department worked on their own time and finished the inside of the range building. The building has a classroom available for the department to conduct training classes of any type, which will seat up to 14 officers in a classroom setting. Also included at the range is a full bathroom with a storage room and garage for easy access to targets and barricades.

In October 2009, the Bridgeport Police Department hosted a Patrol Rifle Instructor Course to train local firearm instructors on how to certify and train their own officers in the use of Patrol Rifles. This training was completed by Spartan Tactical Training Group. The course included 11 officers from eight local law enforcement agencies in North Central West Virginia. This training course is the firs of many the department has envisioned to offer law enforcement agencies throughout West Virginia, with the use of its new range.