Eight Make up Second Graduating Class at USU Eastern Police Academy
Graduates of the 2016 class of USU Eastern Police Academy are (l-r) Nickolas Parker, Andy Wall, Braydon Summarell, Brandon Rigby, John Powell, Meranda Turner, Jesse Jones, and Cameron Sartori. The graduates are using their new skills locally. For instance, Parker and Sartori are officers with the Price City Police; Powell and Summarell work for the Carbon County Sheriff's Office. Photo credit: Tyson Chappell, USU Eastern Police Academy.
Eight individuals with the goal of becoming peace officers made up the second-ever graduating class of the Eastern Peace Officer Academy at Utah State University Eastern.
Five of the eight 2016 graduates have already been snapped up by Utah police and other law enforcement agencies, said director Scott Henrie.
Henrie is justifiably proud that all but one of the 10 graduates in the first-ever 2015 graduating class have obtained positions, some of them even before they received their diplomas. And that lone student with no job yet?
“He’s turned down two offers, trying to find the perfect fit,” said Henrie.
The USU Eastern police academy, part of the Sociology Department in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, is one of five branches statewide that provides courses for POST, Peace Officer Standards and Training. The others are at Dixie State University, Salt Lake Community College, Utah Valley University and Weber State University.
Henrie said the next academic year — the criminal justice program requires two semesters to complete — will see some changes as Price and the other locations work to bring their programs in line with similar standards.
Henrie, an associate professor and chair of the criminal justice program at USU Eastern, said the Price program requires 18 credit hours in basic law enforcement training that includes what Henrie calls “lab work.” This hands-on training includes active shooter training, building search. One additional course, Emergency Vehicles Operations program, is required to be taken at the POST facility in Sandy because of its specialized track and vehicles.
At the end of those courses, graduates are “certifiable” and will be certified once they find a job in law enforcement or corrections, said Henrie.
USU Eastern’s program also offers a criminal justice associate’s degree, which graduates between 15 and 20 students every year, said Henrie. A criminal justice minor is available at the Logan USU campus.
Both programs have become so popular that a four-year criminal justice degree is in the works, said Leon Anderson, director of the Department of Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology. Nearly 70 students at USU Logan are now working toward their criminal justice minor, but end up graduating in psychology, sociology and other disciplines. Anderson anticipates the criminal justice bachelor’s degree will be offered by the 2017 academic year.
Related links:
— USU Eastern’s Criminal Justice Program
— USU Department of Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology
— USU College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Writer and contact: Janelle Hyatt, 435-797-0289, Janelle.hyatt@usu.edu
Scott Henrie directs the Eastern Peace Officer Academy.
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