Henry County hosts inaugural academy for its own officers

New police training center in Henry County
The Henry County Police Department began training 15 recruits in its first in-house training academy this July. It's something that's been in the works for about 10 years. They had to send recruits out of the county to train before this program was in place. The department says the in-house program will lead to a better trained police force for the Henry County Community.
HENRY COUNTY, Ga. - The Henry County Police Department will now train its police officers in-house.
Training in their own county
What we know:
The police force started with its first academy in Henry County this July. Fifteen recruits are being trained in this class.
Before this class, all the academies were done outside Henry County. The department said it's been working to start training its own officers for about 10 years.
Better for Henry County residents
What they're saying:
"It's 22 weeks, it's 800 hours of training," Academy Director Cpt. Matthew Marlowe said.
"They're learning from us how we want them to be police officers, because the biggest benefit is to the community if you have a better-trained police force that's out every day doing what the community expects, then you're going to have a safer place...the public is going to hold us more legitimate. But it has to start on day one," he added.
Henry County Police Chief Mike Ireland says more officers will be needed as the county continues to grow.
"The growth of Henry County is just tremendous throughout the past years...over 300,000 people within the community now," Chief Ireland said.
The 15 recruits currently in the program will graduate in December. They all have different reasons for wanting to join the force.
"I want to do crimes against children, so I want to help as many children as possible," Morgan Grimes said.
"I want to continue to bridge the gap and work with juvenile youth," Kwame Berr added.
Hiring more officers
What you can do:
If you want to be part of a future academy program, the Henry County Police Department is hiring. You can apply here.
The Source: Information in this article came from FOX 5 original reporting by speaking with the Henry County Police Department.