Last Saturday a Ball State University police officer with pre-basic police academy training shot a student four times, killing him while responding to a burglary call off-campus.
The Ball State officer, Robert Duplain, had seven months of experience at the department and had plans to attend the police academy in January.
At BGSU, an officer is not applicable for a job with the campus police department unless they have already graduated from a police academy, said Tim James, sergeant in the Bowling Green Police Department.
But different campus police departments have varying hiring requirements, and Duplain was one of two officers at Ball State without police academy experience.
On the night of the shooting, Duplain and another officer went to the house in Muncie where Duplain found the suspect, Michael S. McKinney, 21. The other officer was around the opposite side of the house when Duplain said McKinney ran at him and did not listen to his verbal instructions.
Duplain then shot McKinney four times, once in the head and three times in the chest, according to a Ball State Daily News article. Some of McKinney’s friends told the Ball State Daily News they believe McKinney had been drinking and that he had confused the house with a similar one down the street where his friend lived. The Muncie Police Department is currently investigating the case and will soon pass it onto the county prosecutor’s office.
A question may be forming in the minds of community members and students in Muncie. What training is sufficient for an officer? Officers in the Bowling Green campus police department must have a minimum of 400 hours of training and must have already graduated from a police academy, this includes 60 hours of training with firearms, James said.
After an officer is hired into the University police department he or she participates in 14 weeks of field training with a field training officer, equaling another 560 hours of experience, James said. “Our training is very intense,” James said. “We purposely put our officers in stressful situations.”
According to James, it’s necessary to have a large amount of training.
Patrol officer Jon Luidhardt, who just finished his field training last week, said situations similar to the one Duplain is experiencing cannot be predicted.
“After training is when things happen that you cannot expect,” Luidhardt said.
Sergeant James said here at Bowling Green, an officer without proper training would not be certified for solo patrol until they were ready.
In an article from The Star Press, another Ball State student, Joshua DeGood, said he had previously contacted a lawyer because Duplain was aggressive during DeGood’s arrest. DeGood argued that Duplain had used unnecessary force while arresting him.
James from Bowling Green said aggression has not been a problem in the department in the 18 years he has served the Bowling Green community.
“I am sure that problems come up at other departments,” James said. “I thank goodness we haven’t had problems here. I accredit that to our screening process, our training and our day-to-day experience.”
The screening process includes psychological and physical testing as well as a back ground check.
Jim Wiegand, director of public safety at the police department said the officers here at the University are dependable.
“I think we have a very professional department,” Wiegand said. “We hire competent officers — officers who are well respected by the campus community.”
