Dozens of Cleveland police cadets hopped on a bus headed toward Columbus early Wednesday for the department's first ever training outside the city.
The 50 cadets making the two-hour drive south boarded the bus around 5:30 a.m.
They will receive 16 weeks of training at Ohio State Highway Patrol's academy and then return to Cleveland to learn the city's rules and regulations.
A Cuyahoga County judge made the call last week, saying cadets need to start training so the department is prepared to provide security during the Republican National Convention next summer and also to meet requirements imposed by the U.S. Department of Justice after it found Cleveland's police officers are poorly trained.
The Cleveland police union opposed the move because they think traveling back and forth to Columbus for more than three months will make it harder to recruit and keep new cadets.
But Police Chief Calvin Williams says that happens no matter where you train.
"In every cadet class that we conduct, for the Cleveland Division of Police here in the city, we have people that drop out for various reasons," he said. "We expect that with any class no matter if they're here or in Columbus."
