SPD welcomes two new officers

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, September 8, 2004

Times-Journal Writer

SPD Chief Robert Green swore in two new patrolmen on Tuesday morning – numbers 57 and 58 out of the 59 slots allocated by the City Council.

They are Anthony Baker of Montgomery and Ken Nichols Jr. of Selma.

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Green said that the Selma Police Department hopes to fill the 59th slot soon and then be at the current authorized limit.

Green said that he had been told by the Mayor’s Office that as soon as the currently authorized slots had been filled, that additional slots would be approved in the new budget

and that additional hiring could begin.

Commenting on the Selma police force, Green said that police recruitment is an ongoing process.

“It takes three to five months to fill a slot. Most are from the region but we look for officers wherever we can find them,” he said. “Most of our officers come from the Black Belt area.”

Green provided statistics on the three officers hired before Baker and Nichols.

“The last three came from the Montgomery Police Department and two of the three were Selma residents. One was from Georgia, but was working on the Montgomery police force and resigned there to come here,” he said.

The newest members of the force illustrate the recruiting pattern.

Baker, an Alabamian, comes from Montgomery where he was working as a sales representative for the ADT security firm.

Desiring to make a job change he entered the Craig Field Criminal Justice training program this summer and has completed initial courses, applied for the job with the Selma Police Department and is now beginning his work as a patrolman.

“I like Selma,” he said, “but I’ve never lived here before. I may move to Selma.”

In contrast, Patrolman Nichols is a native Selmian and a graduate of Dallas County High School.

“I’ve had a lifelong dream of being a police officer but had to wait until I was 21 (years old). Actually I’m almost 22,” he said.

Nichols had been a machine operator in Benton until he, too, started training at the criminal justice center this summer.

Baker said that law enforcement had been for him a lifelong dream, but it took him longer to enter the profession.

“I like to help people,” he said.

Baker described the process following taking the oath of office.

“Each of us will be riding with a current member of the force for the next four months, getting used to the work, and watching how the patrolman handles things. Then we’ll go back to the Craig Field program for 12 weeks for additional training. At the end of that course, we’ll be assigned to our own patrol car,” he said.