CONWAY, SC (WBTW) Police officers in Conway are participating in ethics training through this week and next week.
The department does an ethics training course yearly, but this year made a few changes. In an effort to allow for more open discussions, the department is hosting more sessions of the course so the groups participating are smaller.
Every officer in the department will go through the four-hour course.
A Captain from the Mount Pleasant Police Department came in to conduct the training to provide officers with an outside perspective.
“Character and integrity of police officers are two of the most important aspects of law enforcement to gain the public’s trust, because you know right now with society, the public’s trust is not something we can afford to lose,” Conway PD Lieutenant Selena Small said.
The officers will learn about things such as good social media practices, or things as simple as how to respond when someone in the community offers to buy their lunch.
Lieutenant Small tells News13, ethics training has evolved in the social media age.
“We have to really change the way we train officers and teach them, and teach officers that what you’re saying in the community and what you say on social media is really going to give the perception the same as how we act when we’re out in public,” Lt. Small says. “When we’re off duty, we’re still held to that higher standard.”
