Western Piedmont's Basic Law Enforcement Training program has 10 graduates

A new session of Western Piedmont Community College’s Basic Law Enforcement Training program began on April 14 with 16 candidates.

After 712 hours of training, 10 of the beginning candidates were eligible to be tested on Aug. 11.  The testing students had a 100 percent pass rate and graduated on Aug. 17.

The trainees were exposed to many different facets of law enforcement, to include criminal investigations, criminal and constitutional law, ethics, firearms, driving, and civil processes.

The class had 38 blocks of instruction with 38 tests to follow each block, prior to the state examination.  The state exam was 300 questions long, divided into six units.

The candidates had to make above 70% in each block, not just on the test overall. The exam is four hours long and administered by an evaluator from N.C. Criminal Justice Training and Standards.

Among the graduates and the departments by which they will be employed are  Josef Conor Alexander with the Hickory Police Department, Richard Sean Dula with the Lenoir Police Department, Mitchell Jermaine Hilton of the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office, Sean Edgar Link of the Lenoir Police Department, Brittany Nicole Milligan of the Burke County Sheriff’s Office, Michael O’Conner Moody, of the Burke County Sheriff’s Office, Autumn Rose Ryerse of the Lenoir Police Department, Kaleb Hart Spann of the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office, Abigail Leigh Waters of the Morganton Public Safety Department, Keaton Wayne Williams of the Marion Police Department, and Brandon Paulson of the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office.