Moorhead Police reports recruitment training; six candidates in skills academy

Lieutenant Beta of the Moorhead Police Department told the Moorhead Human Rights Commission that the department’s Cadet Program and a state-funded ICE POET program have combined training cohorts and sent six candidates to Alexandria Technical College for the skills phase of academy training.

Beta said the cohort includes two candidates described as Kurdish and two female candidates (one of whom is Hispanic); the training is expected to continue through roughly the second week of July. The department’s cadet program is administered locally; ICE POET is a statewide grant-funded pathway the lieutenant described as targeted at nontraditional applicants, including those with four-year degrees in non-law-enforcement fields.

Beta said one recent cadet who is a Spanish speaker assisted on a homicide investigation and that the recruitment programs are intended to diversify the force to better reflect the community. He noted the department has information about recruitment on its website and Facebook page and that the department’s administrative sergeant now has recruitment duties. “We’re very happy with the results of that, and, we look forward to continuing that program into the future,” Beta said.

Commissioners asked about application routes, program duration and where training takes place; Beta said ICE POET cohorts trained initially in March and are now completing skills training at Alexandria Technical College, and that other training sites exist across the state. He said program timelines depend on cohort calendars.

The briefing was informational; commissioners did not take formal action during the report.