Wayne Community College (WCC) has graduated its 73rd Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) class. The 11 cadets who completed the college’s academy received certificates to work as sworn law enforcement officers in North Carolina.
Certificates were conferred on Aaron Alexander Borden, Alicia Jo Burns, Brendan Victor Davis, Brandon Casey Elrod, David Isaiah-Samuel Evans, Maria Santibanez, and Nicholas Gene White of Goldsboro;
Michael Anthony Moncada of Seven Springs; Demetrius Wayne Fischer of Four Oaks; Tyler Christian Humphries of Beaulaville; and Grafton Kenroy Johnson of Princeton.
Awards were presented to graduates for outstanding performance in various training areas.
Burns garnered valedictorian honors by earning the top academic average and exhibiting “the best overall attitude in and out of class.” WCC Law Enforcement Training Coordinator Angie Blizzard said she was “an asset to the academy as a whole and her classmates.”
The Physical Fitness Award went to Johnson, who excelled in all activities designed to prepare the recruits for the Police Officer’s Physical Ability Test and timed runs.
Humphries was presented the “Top Gun” award for demonstrating the most overall proficiency in use of firearms. Cadets complete 48 hours of firearms work in both the classroom and on the firing range.
Elrod received the Leadership Award. According to WCC Public Safety Division Chair Beverly Deans, he demonstrated honor, integrity, commitment and discipline.
Elrod and Borden were selected by their peers to speak during the ceremony. Both talked about the rigors of the program, the dedication and sacrifices of their loved ones and friends that allowed them to complete it, and the respect they have for their instructors and their new profession.
“Today a law enforcement officer needs to be sharper and better trained than ever” Borden said. “Thankfully we had instructors who got us through it.”
“Being a law enforcement officer is not about putting on a badge. It is about being a beacon in our community.” said Elrod.
Deans acknowledged the mental and physical challenges the cadets had faced during 702 hours of training covering 39 aspects of law enforcement. She congratulated them for the commitment that got them through it all.
“You have learned the words ‘integrity,’ ‘honor,’ and ‘discipline.’ Now it’s time to go out and not just speak those words but live those words through your actions in your personal and professional lives,” Mrs. Blizzard told the graduates.
“Do not be impressed by the authority granted by your badge, but rather be humbled by it, for it is much larger than you are,” Mrs. Blizzard advised them. “Never forget the principles for which you stand and put yourself over no person.”
With this graduating class, the school has produced 1,141 graduates since its inception as a curriculum program 1983. Currently, WCC graduates work for 52 different law enforcement agencies in this state and more elsewhere.
WCC’s academy 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.
Wayne Community College is a public, learning-centered institution with an open-door admission policy located in Goldsboro, N.C. As it works to develop a highly skilled and competitive workforce, the college serves 12,000 individuals annually as well as businesses, industry, and community organizations with high quality, affordable, accessible learning opportunities, including more than 70 college credit programs. WCC’s mission is to meet the educational, training, and cultural needs of the communities it serves.
