Reno police head to Ukraine for 2-month training mission

Five Reno police officers have been sent to the Ukraine to help train the force in Kiev in community policing techniques through a Department of Justice program aimed at assisting police forces in emerging democracies.

The Reno Police Department is the first police department in the United States to be selected for such a mission, Chief Steve Pitts wrote in a memo to the City Council.

While the assignment is prestigious, some council members were concerned that they weren't kept in the loop on such a big mission. The first Reno Councilman David Bobzien learned of the mission was in a memo that landed in his inbox while the officers were already en route to Kiev.

"We are in a resource constrained environmentsent on training details regularly.

"We launch people all over the country all the time and we've never asked for council permission," Pitts said. "I'm not trying to be disrespectful by any means, but I spent two to three years on the road with the police officer training program and don't think there was even a council (memo)."

The Department of Justice is footing the entire bill for the mission, Pitts said.

The police department was identified as a potential participant because of Pitts' relationship with former Reno Assistant Chief Ron Glensor, who is an adviser to the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program Regional Project Office in Kiev.