SOUTHAVEN, MS (abc24.com)-- What's the most important thing to police officers? Their badge? Their gun? The answer just may be their car. They live and work in them.
"We're in these cars eight to nine hours out of a 12-hour day," says Lt. Mark Little with the Southaven Police Department.
"That's what we do the most is drive cars," adds Captain Johnny Cox.
So they'd better be good at it.
"We have to make a lot of decisions in a pursuit very quickly," Little says.
That's why the department conducts a yearly driving course. Officers must pass six different road tests, all laid out in Snowden Grove's parking lot.
"The braking, the steering, everything that we teach on this course you use on the street daily," Cox tells abc24.com.
Pursuits. Backing up. Turning on a dime. Mastering the maneuvers gives cops an edge.
It also means they know how to protect themselves and those around them.
The course is laid out with 300 traffic cones. Each of them, represent pedestrians and innocent bystanders. In order to pass, officers must complete the course without knocking over a single cone.
"We make them go through this cone free so that it becomes second nature," Little says.
"The more you do it basically creates muscle memory," Cox says. "So you do it automatically."
Cox says wrecks are inevitable, but this training helps reduce their number. And it costs less than buying a new cruiser.
"The only thing it costs us is gas and changing the tires out on these cars," says Little.
