Owens police academy called STAR Program

FINDLAY — Owens Community College Police Training Academy received the Ohio Attorney General's STAR Program designation at a ceremony Monday. Owens is just the 25th of Ohio's 66 academies to earn the STAR Program designation for exceeding the standard requirements set by the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission. "The STAR Designation is another feather in the cap of the Owens program," said William Taylor, dean of the School of Business, Hospitality Management and Public Safety. "It's an honor for the law enforcement program to have both the STAR designation representing the quality of our Basic Academy but to also be designated as one of the state's seven regional hubs authorized to provide advanced law enforcement training through the 'Close to Home' training designation." The Close to Home designation, received in September 2023, recognizes Owens' ability to provide advanced training to current officers across the region based upon the space, location and ability to help reduce travel costs for agencies. The STAR Program designation was created by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost to encourage law enforcement basic training providers to better prepare officers to be more effective in serving and protecting their communities. There are a dozen additional criteria to qualify for the STAR designation. They include a requirement that at least 85% of cadets who attempt the final physical fitness assessment pass at the 50th percentile or better and that at least 85% of cadets eligible to sit for the state certification exam must pass it. Also, to earn the STAR designation, an academy must offer cadets more than the minimum required hours of instruction in high-risk topics, including subject control, firearms, ethics, community diversity and crisis intervention. According to Mark King, the manager of the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy at Owens, while the program had already met the guidelines, compiling the documentation took months of work. "Receiving the STAR designation from the Ohio Attorney General's office is a tremendous honor for our academy and a reflection of the high standards our staff and cadets uphold every day," King said. "This designation strengthens our public safety footprint across northwest Ohio and affirms that Owens is raising the bar for law enforcement training in our region."