Forty-three men and women are celebrating after graduating from the Northern Nevada Regional Law Enforcement Academy Tuesday.
The new peace officers have completed 756 hours of training over 20 weeks learning from text books and hands-on experience.Â
"I can't wait to get started," says RPD Officer Lee. The class valedictorian says he joined the academy because of a family history in law enforcement, "They instilled in me just doing the right things and serving. And to me that was a big draw and making them proud is always something I hope to do."
The graduating class has 19 officers from the Reno Police Department, 16 are deputies from the Washoe County Sheriff's Office, three officers are from the Sparks Police Department, two officers are from University of Nevada, Reno Police Department and one is from the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Police. Two members of the Reno Fire Department also graduated with the group.
"Well the fire fighters, once they become an investigator," says Richard Pillon, Academy Staff Officer, "they need peace officer status in order to be able to make arrest on arson cases." With a friendly rivalry between fire and police, the crowd got a laugh when one of the fire fighters won the award for leadership and shooting.
Academy topics include crime and crime scene investigation, constitutional law, criminal and civil law, search and seizure, defensive tactics, emergency vehicle operation, weapons handling, victim's rights, law enforcement ethics, and cultural awareness.
"We didn't see him much during the training because we don't live here in Reno," says Mary Nicolini, mother of an RPD graduate, "but he would tell us it was brutal sometimes. He did share the video of getting tazed."
All graduates are required to pass the Nevada Peace Officers' Standards and Training (POST) exam and meet Nevada POST physical fitness requirements. Now that they have graduated and received their badges, the new peace officers will start Wednesday.
"Each one of their agencies has rules and guidelines that they have to follow they'll go over all of that kind of stuff," says Pillon,"then they start them out in their own field training programs."
For more information on the academy click here.
