In a commencement service on Monday, April 20, 2015, The Bladen Community College Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) Academy graduated ten candidates who have successfully completed the state mandated North Carolina Comprehensive Examination.
Commencement speaker David Donaldson, Chief of Police for the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, is a graduate of both the BLET program and the Criminal Justice Associate Degree program at Bladen Community College. He advised graduates “to never forget that families, communities, and coworkers need professional and effective law enforcement officers.”
Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) is designed to give students essential skills required for entry-level employment as law enforcement officers with state, county, and municipal governments, and private enterprises. The program uses state commissioned and accredited topics and methods of instruction. General subjects include criminal, juvenile, civil, traffic and alcoholic beverage laws. Students study investigative, custody, court, and patrol procedures. Instruction also includes emergency responses and the application of ethics and positive community relations.
Aaron Brisson was awarded for performing in the fastest time, (five minutes and six seconds), on the Police Officers Physical Abilities Test, (POPAT). With a score of 93.33, William Hundley was recognized with the Highest Overall Average Academic Award on the state examination.
The coveted James B. Collins Award, the highest honor a BLET student can receive, was presented to Andrea Olinger. Selected by votes from the students, the award is commonly referred to as the “Top Cop” Award.
The ten graduating students are Chris Avant, Aaron Brisson, Jonathan diCicco, Casey Evans, William Hundley, Trenton Lewis, Andrea Olinger, Jeffrey Rosier, Juanita Strickland, and Wesley White.
Fall evening BLET classes begin on September 24, 2015. For more information, contact, John Trogdon at 910 879-5536.
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