FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE?????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ????????????????????? OPCLEE
Thursday, March 6, 2003 ??????????????????????? ??????????????????????? ??????????????????????? ??????????? 202/307-0703
POLICE CORPS HOLDS GRADUATION CEREMONY ?
17 Officers Graduate From Justice Department
Program
HATTIESBURG, MISSISSIPPI ? With the graduation
today of 17 police cadets, the Mississippi Police Corps has added a total of 56
highly trained Police Corps officers to community patrol throughout
Mississippi.? Mississippi is one of 22
states and territories that recruit and train college graduates to serve four
years as community police officers through a program funded by the Department
of Justice?s Office of Justice Programs (OJP).
?We congratulate these hard-working,
motivated men and women for their dedication to public safety,? said Deborah J.
Daniels, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs.? ?These new officers possess the skills and
leadership to make a difference in the communities that they serve.?
??????????? ?The Police Corps is a competitive college scholarship program for
students who
agree to work in a state or local police force for at least four
years.? Scholarship funds cover
education expenses, including tuition, fees, books, supplies, transportation,
room and board, and miscellaneous expenses.
Today?s graduates of the Mississippi Police
Corps program will join 12 of the state?s local law enforcement agencies. Those
departments are the Alcorn County Police Department, Biloxi County Police
Department, Cleveland Police Department, Flowood Police Department, Gulfport
Police Department, Hattiesburg Police Department, Mississippi State University
Police Department, Ridgeland Police Department, Round Rock Police Department,
Starkville Police Department, University of Southern Mississippi Police
Department and the Warren County Sheriff?s Department.
The graduating Police Corps officers are:
La?Sheeta Davis and R. Kevin Sidaway of Biloxi; Brant Davis and Glen Fox of
Brandon; Ashley Scott Kubiak of Clarksdale; Evan Storr of Gautier; Demetric
Armstead of Kosciusko; Sarah Brooke Manigold of Louisville; Chris Odom of
Moselle; Josh Hobbs of Olive Branch; Richard Martin of Shaw; Michael Kamien and
Riley Nelson of Vicksburg; William Parish of Water Valley; Robert Sanderson of
Alpine, Alabama; Daisy Watson of Terrytown, Louisiana; and Chanse Thomas of El
Paso, Texas.
The graduation and reception will take place at 10:00 am at the
Hattiesburg Lake Terrace Convention Center.
Speakers include Robbie Maxwell, Director of the Office of the Police
Corps, and the Honorable Louis Guirola, Jr., United States Magistrate.? The graduation is the culmination of a
rigorous 24‑week Police Corps training program.? This basic training teaches the knowledge, skills and attitudes
police officers need to serve on community patrol. At the conclusion of the
training, all participants must satisfy high performance standards for
physical, mental and emotional fitness.
The police departments in which individual participants will serve
provide additional training as appropriate.????? ??????????????????????? ??????????????????????? ???????????
Students interested in the Police Corps apply to the lead agency of the
participating state in which they wish to serve. Applications are then
evaluated based upon defined selection criteria. States with Police Corps
programs are expected to advertise the availability of scholarships to the full
range of prospective participants and to make special efforts to encourage
applications from among members of all racial, ethnic and gender groups.
??????????? ???????????
For additional information about the Mississippi Police Corps program,
contact Director Keith Oubre at 800/767-7334 or see http://www‑org.usm.edu/~mspolice/.? Information is also available through OJP?s
Website at:? https://ojp.gov.
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For additional
information contact Sheila Jerusalem at 202/307-0703.