Corporal Richard Pelkey is the man behind the Caldwell Police's new obstacle course.
The training isn't just a fitness test but a physical aptitude test for a real-life situation the officers might encounter.
“You might have to do a low crawl the length of a car as you are undercover,” said Pelkey.
Captain Devin Riley said Pelkey approached him a couple of months ago about improving their training and he and the department were immediately on board because every time an officer goes out, their life is on the line.
“Well, it's important for the officers to be able to go out there and know that they are able to jump through a fence, climb up stairs, climb through a tube, climb through a window, it's stuff that they do on a normal basis,” said Riley.
So how did the men create the training?
Well, Corporal Pekley spent some time reaching other departments on YouTube in order to customize the course with the department's needs. Everyone in the department will be required to complete the course each year. The course is timed and the trainees are given a pass or fail score. So far, 38 people have passed.
But what if they failed?
“We will sit down and discuss what was good, bad and what we need to do,” said Riley. In the end, it's not just a training course but a team-building experience. Some officers have been challenging their bosses and betting things like cups of coffee, donuts on lunch to see who is the best.
