The Professional Standards Unit maintains training records and ensures that officers receive the proper amount and type of training each year.  In 2010, officers participated in 8778 hours of certified (state) training and an additional 1906 hours of in-house training for a total of 10,684 training hours.  On average for 2010, patrol officers got 94 hours and detectives received 140 hours with supervisors and managers receiving 134 and 149 hours respectively. 

The Paducah Police Department's instructors are efficient in several areas including firearms, defensive driving tactics, Taser, pepperball, chemical munitions, defensive tactics, CPR, mobile field force, and baton use.  Each instructor is certified and proficient in the discipline they teach.  Other areas of training include civil rights training and the technique called Verbal JudoTM, a course in tactical communications designed to help officers persuade confrontational people into compliance without having to resort to physical force.

Training Officer Rob Estes is responsible for organizing and scheduling all training for sworn and civilian employees.  He is also the Chief Firearms Instructor and is certified in several other areas of training.  In his capacity as the Chief Firearms Instructor, he oversees all firearms training, weapons, ammo, and upgrades for the department.  He is the point of contact for new recruits and remains their liaison officer until they graduate from the academy.

Driver's Training

The Paducah Police Department is one of only a few departments in the State of Kentucky that conducts regular driver's training usually each spring.  The department has been conducting the training since 2003.  Driver's training is extremely important since according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, of the 162 law enforcement line-of-duty deaths in 2010, 73 were traffic-related fatalities.

The training includes elements of precision driving, emergency response, and pursuit driving including the use of Stop SticksTM.  The class addresses vehicle control, accident avoidance, skid prevention, recovery, and decision-making.

The Paducah Police Department has a restrictive pursuit policy which allows officers to pursue only the most dangerous suspects where the need to apprehend them clearly outweighs the risk to the officer and the public. 

Department Instructors