FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                                                            OPCLEE

THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2002                                                                                                                                                             202/307-0703

POLICE CORPS TO HOLD GRADUATION CEREMONY

JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA - Sixteen Florida Police Corps cadets will graduate in ceremonies here on Friday, June 28.Florida 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). 

 

“These men and women are making a commitment to ensure public safety,” said Deborah J. Daniels, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs. “These officers have chosen to make a difference by serving our citizens. We admire their dedication and congratulate them on their achievement.”

           

            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.

 

Tomorrow’s graduates of the Florida Police Corps program will join four law enforcement agencies– the Hillsborough County, Jacksonville and Orange County Sheriff’s Offices and the Tampa Police Department. They were trained at the Northeast Florida Criminal Justice Training and Education Center in Jacksonville. The ceremony is the culmination of a rigorous 24-week Police Corps training program that teaches the knowledge, skills and attitudes police officers need to serve on community patrol. At the conclusion of the training, participants satisfy high performance standards for physical, mental and emotional fitness.

 

The graduating Police Corps officers are: Robert Santti of Crystal River; Christopher Rosbaugh of Daytona Beach; Scott Bucher, Jacob DeVevo, James Hodge, Daniel Hurley, Michael Johnson, Geoffrey Liedke, Morgan McNamee and Clayton Short of Jacksonville; Jason Bowen of Longwood; Christopher Hall of Orlando; Daniel Berry, Jarvis Butler and Jason Cella of Tampa; and Geoffrey Dahlem of Towson, Maryland.

 

The graduation ceremony will be held on Friday at 1:00 p.m. at the Florida Community College of Jacksonville, South Campus, Wilson Center for the Arts. The Honorable Paul Perez, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida will be the keynote speaker. Other speakers include Mr. Robbie Maxwell, Director of OJP’s Office of Police Corps and Law Enforcement Education; Jacksonville County Sheriff Nathaniel Glover and Dr. Adam Herbert, Executive Director of the Florida Police Corps.

 

Students interested in the Police Corps apply to the lead agency of the participating state in which they wish to serve. The Florida Police Corps is currently accepting applications for the January, 2003 class. Applications are evaluated based upon defined selection criteria.

             

For additional information about the Florida Police Corps program, contact Steven A. Richardson at 904/713-4896 or  [email protected]. Information about OJP’s Police Corps program and other OJP initiatives is available at the OJP Website at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/opclee.

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For additional information contact Sheila Jerusalem at 202/307-0703.