Cadets studying at Lackawanna College’s Police Academy learn patrol procedures in class.
Through a new partnership with Scranton Police, those same cadets will go on ride-a-longs with working officers.
"If we expect the best of our officers, we must provide the best to them. That means high-quality training, the right tools and continuous opportunities for professional growth," Scranton Police Chief Thomas Carroll said. "This partnership with Lackawanna College represents exactly that. It shows our officers and our future officers that we care about their development and their long term success.”
Carroll joined Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti and Kevin Mahoney, director of police academy operations at Lackawanna College, Thursday at the Scranton Police Department to announce the collaboration. They were flanked by six cadets from Lackawanna.
Under the agreement, cadets from Lackawanna College’s Scranton and Hazleton campuses will have access to the City of Scranton’s cutting-edge, state-of-the-art training technology. Officers do not have to work in Scranton after graduation.
For almost 50 years, the academy has educated over 1,000 officers. Most of Scranton’s officers graduated from the academy.
The new program will be in addition to the current Pennsylvania municipal police officers training, known as Act 120, and Lackawanna's curriculum.
Through the partnership, Lackawanna College will provide four full scholarships annually to members of the Scranton Police Department. All department employees and their dependents will be eligible for tuition discounts.
"When we invest in officers and officer training, we are making a long-term investment in safer neighborhoods, a safer city and a safer work environment for our officers," Cognetti said.
The collaboration is anticipated to start this fall.
Experience before graduation
Mahoney and Carroll worked together to create the program.
"We are the largest law enforcement agency in Northeastern Pennsylvania, and it only makes sense, with the college right up the road, the academy, that we have a part in educating and providing that experience," Carroll said.
The city has invested over $5 million in technology and equipment for the police department, Cognetti said. That includes its MILO (Multiple Interactive Learning Objectives) system.
Carroll said it’s an interactive and immersive simulation technology that provides real-life scenarios for officers.
The new partnership opens up that technology and more to the cadets.
"They're also going to be exposed to drone technology and forensic technology. These are all things that will bring the academy that much more closer to real life police work. So when they're coming out, nothing is really new to them, and they have some experience in it,” Mahoney said.
Mahoney entered the state police in 1996. He retired as lieutenant in June 2021 and started at the academy in July of the same year.
"It's a lot different from what you read in the book to when you face a situation in real life," he said.
Mahoney's goal as director is top bring more technology into the academy.
"The more experience they have in those type of scenarios, is absolutely going to be give them a leg up when they get out there,” he said.
The city is setting a national standard for how modern policing should work, Cognetti said.
"This partnership with Lackawanna College helps us bring up the next generation of officers," she said.
