Basic Patrol Academy celebrates 16 graduates
Graduates of NIC’s Basic Patrol Academy pose for a class photo on Dec. 7 at the Edminster Student union Building Lake Coeur d’Alene Room. Pictured in the back row, from left, are Kyle Scholl, Joshua Close, Brian VanWingerden, Caleb Pfiester, Ethan Jolley and Joshua Zechman. Pictured in the middle row, from left, are Zane Wilson, Devin Roach, Nicholas Tipolt, Colter Gaul, Nicholaus Delavan and Joseph Bruegeman. Pictured in the front row, from left, are Jason Hubbard, Priya Piller, Emily Speer and Johnnie Raymond.
(Photo courtesy NORTH IDAHO COLLEGE/GERRY McCRAY)
It can be difficult to make it through a 16-week college course. Studying for exams and taking notes during lectures can be exhausting, but the graduates of North Idaho College’s Basic Patrol Academy also pair their academics with physical fitness training, handling firearms, and navigating high-speed vehicle courses.
NIC held a graduation ceremony for the 16 Basic Patrol Academy students Dec. 7, at the Lake Coeur d’Alene Room in the Edminster Student Union Building on NIC’s Coeur d’Alene campus.
The ceremony featured speakers from law enforcement and NIC, including NIC President Nick Swayne, Basic Patrol Academy Coordinator Mark Ellis, Coeur d’Alene Police Department Chief Lee White, Idaho State Police chaplain Sara Garrison, and Basic Patrol Academy class president Joshua Zechman.
Graduates were acknowledged for their academic success and were each pinned with their police badge by friends and family.
“There’s a very impressive amount of knowledge they are given and expected to know,” Ellis said. “These new officers and deputies worked so hard to become certified peace officers.”
The NIC Basic Patrol Academy is designed in a paramilitary academy format and accredited by the Idaho Peace Officers Standards and Training Council. The class meets five days a week for eight or more hours per day.
“Training and education make law enforcement better,” Swayne said. “The better we can provide training and education to our law enforcement, which is a really critical role of a community college, it makes the community better.”
Approximately 50 law enforcement experts teach more than 60 topics, from skills-based training to scenario drills.
“It’s unique here because all of our teachers and faculty are still active law enforcement working patrol or in special units,” Zechman said. “They brought a lot of really good information, experience, and knowledge and passed it down to us.”
North Idaho College offers three levels of certification in law enforcement, including a basic technical certificate, which is awarded upon completion of the Basic Patrol Academy, an intermediate technical certificate, and an associate of applied science degree.
For more information about the Basic Patrol Academy, contact NIC Law Enforcement Administrative Assistant Katie Costanzo at katie.costanzo@nic.edu.