Tanana Valley Campus Law Enforcement Academy to Hold Graduation Ceremony this Friday

Submitted by Scott McCrea
Phone: (907) 474-1157
05/14/03

Thanks to the University of Alaska Fairbanks Tanana Valley Campus, the state of Alaska is about to become just a little bit safer. TVC will be holding a graduation ceremony for its Law Enforcement Academy on Friday, May 16, at 2 p.m. at the Old University Park gymnasium. The ceremony marks the closing of TVC’s fourth academy, which started on Feb. 24.

The academy is designed to provide students with basic police training which will enable them to receive the Alaska Police Standards Certification. The certification will make them eligible for employment with the 21 state law enforcement agencies or 43 municipal police departments within Alaska. Former Alaska State Trooper John Myers is the faculty coordinator of the academy.

Eighteen students from around the state are graduating from the program. Myers said more than a third of the students in the program already had positions in security or law enforcement and were furthering their skills to obtain their certification. Many of the other graduates have already secured employment, and Myers predicts that all should be employed by the end of the summer. 95 percent of the graduates from the first three academies are currently employed in various law enforcement positions in Alaska. Four Law Enforcement Academy graduates are serving as police chiefs in Chickaloon, Fort Yukon, Hooper Bay and Tanana.

"Not only are we graduating successful students, we are also graduating diverse students," said Myers, who pointed out that from this year’s class, four of the graduates are women, three are Alaska Native, and one is Native American.

Graduates of the this year’s class include George Cordero, Chickaloon; Derek Davison, Estacda, Oregon; Curtis Dayton, Fairbanks; Kieran Donahue, Fort Wainwright; Kelly Alexa Grimes, Anchorage; Travis Koerner, North Pole; Christine Larsen, Fort Wainwright; Kymberly Miller, Anchorage; William Perry, North Pole; Stan Piscoya, Nome; Paul Renschen, Fairbanks; Tyson Rhody, Fairbanks; Greg Sims, Fairbanks; Daniel Tanner, North Pole; Derrick Westlake, Anchorage; Michael White, Fairbanks; Lorna Weese, Fairbanks; and Keith Wilson, Fairbanks.

Kieran Donahue will be the student speaker. Donahue is a former UAF student who dropped out of school 13 years ago to donate a kidney to his brother. Donahue, who is a federal conservation officer at Fort Wainwright, will be going back to school this fall.

The students received 490 hours of training and education in a wide variety of topics, including basic patrol procedures, marksmanship, arson investigation, report writing, major crime investigation, traffic accident investigation, search and seizure laws, DWI detection, domestic violence response and practical testing, cultural diversity, and survival tactics.

TVC will be starting its next academy on August 18th. For more information, contact Myers at 474-2703.

NOTE TO EDITORS: The media is invited to attend the graduation ceremony, which will be held in the Old University Park School gymnasium on 1000 University Avenue. For more information contact John Myers at (907) 474-2703 or TVC Marketing Coordinator Scott McCrea at (907) 474-1157.