CTC Police Academy marks graduation

The CTC Regional Police Academy will conduct graduation ceremonies for the 90th Basic Peace Officer Course and the 2009 Extended Basic Peace Officer Course on Friday, August 14 in the Fine Arts auditorium (Bldg. 112, room 106) on the CTC campus. The courses are part of a certified, licensed police academy which adheres to the rules established by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education (TCLEOSE). Both services are open to the public.

The ceremony for the Basic Peace Officer Course will be conducted at 11 a.m. Guest speaker is Deputy Sheriff Robert Pettigrew, Bell County . The ceremony will mark the completion of a 20-week course of instruction by 11 cadets representing the police departments of Copperas Cove , Harker Heights and Paris , TX and the Copperas Cove Fire Department, the Coryell County Sheriff's Office, the Precinct 3 Bell County Constable's Office and the Precinct 3 Milam County Constable's Office.

The Basic Peace Officer Course is limited to cadets who are employed as a police recruit, prospective recruit, or prospective reserve peace officer and who have met the enrollment standards.

The graduation ceremony for the Extended Basic Peace Officer Course will be at 7 p.m. that evening in the Fine Arts auditorium. The graduating class selected Lt. Douglas Suhr, Temple Police Department, as guest speaker. 11 cadets will be recognized for completing the 10-and-a-half-month course of instruction. They represent the cities of Copperas Cove, Burnet, Gatesville, Killeen, Marble Falls, Temple and Ft. Hood.

The Extended Basic Peace Officer training is a 740-hour course designed to prepare the graduating cadet to take the state licensing examination to be a peace officer in Texas. Admission to the course is open to applicants who meet the minimum enrollment standards established by TCLEOSE and standard college admission requirements of CTC. It is a 'for-credit' program providing graduates with 23 semester credit hours.

The course also establishes a base line of training for the respective sheriff and police departments to provide additional field training. Individual blocks of instruction were presented in a variety of topics including multiculturalism and human relations, interpersonal communications, problem solving, ethics and professionalism, victims' rights, Texas Penal Code, Texas Traffic Code, Texas Family Code, use of force law and concepts, firearms, defensive tactics, police vehicle operation, criminal investigation, stress management and physical conditioning.