Alyssa Gorham, member of the Fall 2018 PLEA graduating class

Skagit Valley College is pleased to announce that 20 cadets graduated from the 30^th Annual Parks Law Enforcement Academy (PLEA) on Tuesday, December 18. The ceremony took place in McIntyre Hall, located on SVC’s Mount Vernon Campus.

The ceremony included the Presentation of Colors and Flag Salute, Bellingham Pipeband Pipers led by Peter Rolstad, and graduation remarks by representatives of various organizations and agencies. Each cadet received their certificate from Rick Mossman, SVC’s new PLEA Commander and Dr. Terry Edwards, Criminal Justice instructor.

About the Fall 2018 PLEA class:

• Training for the cadets began in August;
• The class includes 20 cadets, seven of whom are military veterans and/or reservists;
• Cadets are from Washington, Oregon, Ohio, Hawaii, Minnesota, Wyoming, Maine, Connecticut, New York, Illinois, Vermont, North Carolina, and Texas.

About the Parks Law Enforcement Academy Curriculum:
SVC’s program is 17 weeks long, 728 hours in length, which includes 690 hours of Federal curriculum. The balance is a blend of Washington State curriculum, primarily state law, and traffic codes. By graduation, the cadets will have successfully passed six rigorous, Federally-administered academic tests that measure their ability to apply concepts in areas such as use of force, arrest, search and seizure, Constitutional and criminal law, authority and jurisdiction, human relations, and many other elements. They will also have engaged in a case operation which began as a scenario-based exercise, then evolved into camouflage and surveillance training, site reconnaissance, stakeout, suspect apprehension, preparing search warrants, and prosecution of the accused in a mock courtroom setting. In addition, they will have also passed a significant number of requirements in areas such as emergency vehicle operations; firearms (qualifying in semi-automatic pistols, shotguns, and patrol rifles); control and defensive tactics; interview and interrogation techniques; patrol skills; basic tactics; and physical fitness performance. They will also have had experience in many scenarios that measure their ability to perform in real-world applications of dealing with conflict management, assisting the public, and of situations they will encounter in local, state, and federal parks.

About the Academy:
The Skagit Valley College Parks Law Enforcement Academy is one of only seven programs taught at the college or university level that is approved by the National Park Service and accredited by the Federal Law Enforcement Training Accreditation Board in the United States. The curriculum is also accepted by Washington State Parks, State Parks throughout the country, and numerous county parks in Washington.

SVC’s program has been in existence since 1990, with the first academy taking place in 1991. More than 1,000 cadets have graduated from the program since its first year.

While many PLEA graduates have enjoyed successful careers in local, state or National Parks, others have joined agencies across the nation, including local police departments, county sheriff’s offices, State Patrol, US Forest Service, state and federal fish and wildlife, tribal police, US Customs and Border Protection, Pentagon Police, US Secret Service, and the FBI.