FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ????????OPCLEE

Thursday, July 25, 2002 ???????202/307-0703

 

POLICE CORPS HOLDS GRADUATION CEREMONY ?

17 Officers Graduate From Justice Department Program

 

CHARLESTON, S.C. ? With the graduation tomorrow of 17 police cadets, the South Carolina Police Corps has added a total of 59 highly trained Police Corps officers to community patrol throughout South Carolina. South Carolina 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).

 

?The Police Corps program is an excellent opportunity for highly motivated, qualified young people to receive federal scholarships and serve our counties and cities as law enforcement officers,? said Deborah Daniels, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs. ?Communities across the country are truly benefitting from the addition of these officers to the ranks of local law enforcement agencies.?

 

??????????? 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 South Carolina Police Corps program will join six of the state?s local law enforcement agencies. Those departments are the Charleston, Greenville and Richland County Sheriff?s Offices and the Charleston, Lexington and Rock Hill Police Departments.

 

The graduating Police Corps officers are:? Samuel E. Albrecht of Terre Haute, IN; Mary Elizabeth Auer of Virginia Beach, VA; Daniel W. Bates of McClellanville, SC; Jason C. Bruder of North Augusta, SC; Jennifer K. Dorney of New Tripoli, PA; Jason H. Harbaugh of Lexington, SC; Jill M. Hawley of Surfside Beach, SC; Adam G. Jones of Summerville, SC; Michael C. McElroy of Chesapeake, VA; George T. Meyers of Aiken, SC; Sherwood T. Pittman of Summerville, SC; Randy E. Reagan of Dawsonville, GA; Sean P. Reiter of Medford, NJ; Joshua A. Tackett of Powhatan, VA; Jennie L. Towsand of Endwell, NY; Joshua E. West of Cleveland, TN; and Torrence J. White of Andrews, SC.

 

The graduation and reception will take place at The Citadel?s Holliday Alumni Center in Charleston. The keynote address will be delivered by Sheriff Leon Lott from Richland County. Additional remarks will be made by Mr. Robert Maxwell, National Director of Police Corps Programs and Colonel Joel Heiser from The Citadel. The graduation is a culmination of a rigorous 16‑week Police Corps training program, which 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 information about the South Carolina Police Corps program and the next training class beginning the end of May 2003 contact Glenn S. Youngblood at 843/953-6993. Information is also available through OJP?s Website at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/opclee.

 

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