13 earn law enforcement certification at Wayne Community
By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on August 14, 2006 1:50 PM
Wayne Community College graduated its 48th Basic Law Enforcement Training Class during ceremonies recently. The 13 cadets who completed the college's academy received certificates to work as sworn law enforcement officers in North Carolina.
Certificates were conferred on Steven Lassiter, Veronica Locke, Lawrence Phifer, Kenneth Prevost and Russell Rice of Goldsboro, Jerimee Hooker, Nicholas Littleton, Robert Parchman and Brian Voeller of Pikeville, Michael Pike of Mount Olive, Charles Rouse of Kinston, Dillon Fleming of LaGrange and Grove Bice III of Princeton.
The "Top Gun" award went to Rouse for demonstrating overall proficiency in use of firearms. Cadets complete nearly 50 hours of handgun and shotgun work in both the classroom and on the firing range.
The Physical Fitness Award went to Hooker. In presenting the award, Beverly Deans, the college's law enforcement training director, said that Hooker had "shown the most drastic improvement from day one to the final day."
Fleming earned valedictorian honors by demonstrating excellence in the practical and academic areas of law enforcement training as well as standing out in attitude, participation and attendance.
Instead of a guest speaker, the cadets chose two classmates to deliver the closing remarks. Parchman and Lassiter told their fellow graduates to remember the foundation of law enforcement they had been taught - integrity, doing the right thing even when no one is looking.
The ceremony also included a video that showed the cadets during some of their training, including some scenes of their exposure to pepper spray and tear gas, as well as physical training and work on the firing and driving ranges.
Ms. Deans acknowledged the mental and physical challenges the recruits had faced during 710 hours of training and congratulated them for their "determination, commitment and dedication."
Most of the graduates have been hired by area law enforcement agencies or have offers pending. Fleming, Hooker, Lassiter and Prevost will be working with Goldsboro Police Department. Rice and Rouse will be employed as deputies with the Wayne County Sheriff's Office. Voeller will go to the Smithfield Police Department. Pike will serve with the Mount Olive Police Department. Littleton is committed to the Pikeville Police Department. Phifer plans to join the Stantonsburg Police Department.
Since its inception in 1987, the college's academy has graduated 774 cadets who are now employed in 43 different agencies. It covers 37 different aspects of law enforcement.
The program is accredited by the N.C. Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission and N.C. Sheriffs' Education and Training Standards Commission through the N.C. Community College System.
The next day program will start on Aug. 21. An evening session begins in January. For more information and to obtain a registration/application packet, contact Ms. Deans at 919-735-5151 or bdeans@waynecc.edu.