NIC Patrol Academy celebrates 22 graduates

COEUR d’ALENE — In his 31 years in law enforcement, Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Lee White has witnessed some of the most gruesome and distressing things that exist in society. 

That’s common for police officers, he said, who spend shift after shift interacting with people who are having the worst days of their lives. 

“I’ve seen too many murders, far too many dead kids, too many victims of sex crimes and violent crimes and buried too many friends,” he told the crowd gathered Thursday in the Lake Coeur d’Alene Room in the Edminster Student Union Building on the North Idaho College campus. 

But if given the choice, White said he’d do it all again in a heartbeat. The same is true for his fellow officers. 

“We do it because we want to protect those who can’t protect themselves,” he said. “We want to live in a place where our citizens don’t have to fear being victims of violent crime and we want to be part of something greater than ourselves.” 

White shared those words with the 22 newest graduates of the Basic Patrol Academy at North Idaho College. 

The graduates have joined the ranks of the Coeur d’Alene Police Department, the Post Falls Police Department, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office and the Coeur d’Alene Tribal Police. 

Coeur d’Alene Police Officer Nour Aioub was voted president of her graduating class. Aioub was born in Syria and came to the U.S. with her family when she was 14 years old. 

Chris Wagar, law enforcement academy coordinator for NIC, said Aioub showed exceptional leadership skills and drive during training. 

Aioub described the physical, mental and emotional challenges she and her classmates faced during the 18 weeks of training they experienced together. She said the academy shaped them into stronger, more resilient people and helped them to forge close bonds with one another. 

“What started as a group of strangers quickly grew into something called family,” she said. “A family that supported one another, pushed each other to succeed and become unbreakable.” 

NIC President Nick Swayne also addressed the graduating class, emphasizing their responsibility to serve and protect others. 

“Remember that your role is not just to enforce the law, but to be a guardian of your community,” he said. 

The most important symbol of a peace officer is not the tools on their belts or the weapons in their holsters, White said. It’s the shield they wear on their chests. 

“It serves as a reminder that the law is supposed to be a shield, not a sword, although sometimes a sword is called for,” White said. “It’s a symbol that our goal is public safety, not punishment.” 

During Thursday’s graduation ceremony, the newly minted police officers had their badges pinned to their uniforms by their loved ones. In doing so, the thinking goes, the badge becomes harder to tarnish. 

White urged the graduates to keep learning, act with integrity and strive to be the type of police officer they would want to show up when their own families dial 911. 

Above all, White said, when the job is tough, the graduates must remember why they chose to become police in the first place. 

“From time to time, we get to actually touch someone, affect a life-altering change and leave things better than we found them,” he said. “These new officers and the people who continually serve our communities with pride and professionalism do it because they truly believe they can make a difference.” 

    Nour Aioub, president of her NIC Basic Patrol Academy graduating class, addresses her classmates and the community during a graduation ceremony at North Idaho College.
  

    New officers with the Post Falls Police Department wait to receive their badges.

    Coeur d'Alene Police Chief Lee White addresses patrol academy graduates Thursday.
  

    Nour Aioub receives congratulations from a loved one during Thursday's graduation ceremony.