Police school plan moves forward

By Bill Toscano

Whitehall Police Chief Matthew Dickinson said this week that he hopes to be able to open a police training session at Whitehall Central School in April.

“We’re going to push it for April,” said Dickinson, who noted he still needs final approval from the Department of Criminal Justice and the Whitehall Village Board of Trustees but expects those approvals to come.

One of the trustees, Walt Sanford, is a very interested observer. Dickinson said Fort Edward, where Sanford is chief of police, has indicated it would like to send two officers to the training school. Dickinson said he has also had discussions with Granville, expects one or two trainees from Cambridge and anticipates at least one, of not more, from the Warren County Sheriff’s Office.

Whitehall would likely send three officers to the training school.
“If we are able to do this, we will be able to train three officers for what it costs to send one officer to the full-time DCJ academy,” Dickinson said.

The Whitehall school would be focused on training part-time officers who have already been hired by a local department. He said the classes would be held at the school, and the firearms training would be done at the Washington County Range in Fort Ann.

“The sheriff said he would let us use the range,” Dickinson said. “That’s a great help.”