The Delta-Montrose Technical College Criminal Justice Academy continues to graduate three classes a year of dedicated individuals ready to become certified law enforcement officers serving communities on the Western Slope and beyond.

Police work 101. Cadets at the Delta-Montrose Criminal Justice Academy complete training in every aspect of police work, including no holds barred practice in arrest techniques for unruly suspects.

Whatever the lure may be to the stand-up guys in the just graduated class of 2009-3 who pass the rigorous academy program, they all prove their willingness to lay it on the line and make a positive difference where they live by working as cops.

Academy director Steve Dunivan notes that his academy program continues to attract high-quality applicants even in the face of a growing trend towards lawlessness in the country. Psychopathic assaults this past year in Oakland and more recently in Seattle have left eight uniformed peace officers dead and their families grieving. Closer to home, a Montrose police officer was unexpectedly gunned down earlier this year responding to one of the the most volatile of all police calls — a domestic dispute. Even the nation’s president chided a Massachusetts police department for “acting stupidly” in making a routine disturbance arrest.

Working under the experienced eye of local police officers, cadets at the Delta-Montrose Criminal Justice Academy practice an arrest procedure during a traffic stop. The exercise is one of the final tests cadets must pass before graduating.

In spite of the many challenges and risks of some law enforcement work, the career path offers real advantages that also help keep the local academy’s program in demand. The law enforcement career path offers the opportunity for advancement, stable employment, benefits, and retirement. So there are many reasons why during the past 18 months the Academy has seen a steady stream of new cadet applicants for the 16-week-long course.

While entry level work of a police officer doesn’t require extensive technical training or advanced degrees, applicants must have a clean criminal record, successfully complete a Colorado Bureau of Investigation background check, and be able to pass a general college entrance exam.

Ages of cadets entering the program range from 20 to 57 years, and most of them have found the opportunity to pursue a lifelong ambition to work as a police officer.

The academy can point to an “almost 100 percent” success rate in after-graduation hiring, says Dunivan. He adds that many of his graduates have found work with local, Western Slope law enforcement agencies.

“Over the last two and a half years,” Dunivan said, “every cadet who successfully graduated from our program has passed their POST exam.” Passing the POST exam is required for obtaining peace officer certification in Colorado.

And the academy’s course is no pushover. It is a rigorous and challenging combination of academic study and practical skills designed to prepare graduates for situations they are most likely to encounter on patrol assignment. The 14 to 16 cadets in each of the academy’s classes are required to complete 450 attendance hours, including 150 hours devoted to firearms training, driving, and arrest control.

The cadets must master 36 hours of Colorado State Statute study, and they are trained in other aspects of law enforcement including community policing, criminal procedure, hate crimes and ethnic issues, the court system, testifying, crime scene security, and traffic control.

There are physically demanding trainings in arrest procedure, and additional course practicals involving traffic stops and citizen contact.

The instructors who guide academy cadets to their successful graduation current and retired officers from local law enforcement agencies, and other professionals involved in social support services.

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