Weekly Roundup | Behind the Badge

Welcome to the weekly roundup, where we bring you the top stories from today’s Dayton Daily News and major stories from the past week you may have missed.

This week that includes the culmination of our Behind the Badge series on police training, and an investigation into the financial health of local school districts.

Our mission is to help you understand what’s really going on in the Dayton region. This includes comprehensive coverage of local governments and agencies, hard-hitting investigations, and in-depth analyses of important issues.

Do you have a news tip or an issue you think our reporters should look into? Contact me at Josh.Sweigart@coxinc.com, or you can use our anonymous tipline.

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Go Behind the Badge to see what it takes to be a cop

Credit: JIM NOELKER

For six months, reporter London Bishop attended the Sinclair Police Academy, training alongside cadets, learning what it takes to be a cop, and exploring how police training fits into larger societal issues around policing. Today, we wrap up the Behind the Badge project with a final package of stories.

• Combined scenarios: In this story, London writes about the final training session where cadets arm themselves with paintball guns and test their training in high-stress situations.

• Personal takeaways: London wrote this story to share her personal takeaways from the project.

• The future of policing: This final story in the project looks at the future of police training. It also explores how issues like racial bias are taught at the academy, including the airing of one documentary that local activists say is inappropriate.

• ICYMI: London has chronicled her experience from day one though graduation, including agreeing to be pepper sprayed. Along the way, we have explored how that training fits into larger issues such as use of force, dealing with suspects with mental illness, officer safety, and more.

• Behind the Badge: Visit the Behind the Badge page on our site to see all the stories. We also have a special ePaper reprint of highlights from the series.

How financially healthy is your school district?

Dayton Daily News reporters analyzed financial five-year forecast data for more than 50 school districts in Butler, Clark, Greene, Miami, Montgomery and Warren counties to assess the financial health of local school districts.

• What they found: School districts across the region vary on the amount of money they keep on-hand in relation to their budget, with New Lebanon keeping well over a year of cash on hand and Franklin keeping 10% of their annual budget in the bank.

• Big picture: Read the full story here, including interviews with local school leaders about how they manage finances and an explainer on how schools are funded in Ohio.

• Back to school: This one of several education related stories you will see in the next few weeks as area districts go back to school. Coverage will be lead by Dayton Daily News education reporter Eileen McClory.

• Local levies: Some of the school districts included in our story are planning to go before voters in November for levies. Go here for a roundup of all the levies — including not just schools but cities, townships, parks, libraries and more — planned for the November ballot in area counties.