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.

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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.