Law Enforcement Career Academy

The Wisconsin American Legion sponsored a Law Enforcement Career Academy at the Wisconsin State Patrol Academy at Fort McCoy. It started on July 24^th and ran through July 29^th. This was the sixth year of the event operating at the academy. The program is open to 52 junior and senior-year high-school students from across the state of Wisconsin. The program gives the prospects first-hand experiences and insight into the inner-workings of law enforcement agencies. The course offers highly motivated students the chance to consider law enforcement as a career path option. The timing of the event is designed so that students can make this decision as they graduate from high school. Ozaukee County Sheriff, Jim Johnson, the course director, said that, “The course will either give those considering law enforcement confirmation on their decision to follow that path, or it will confirm that this may not be the right career for them.” Either way, students are challenged on police techniques throughout the week, giving them a strong idea of what life is like working for the law.

The days began early, with physical training starting at 5:15 a.m., and ended with going to sleep at 10:00 in the evening. The training includes most topics of law enforcement, to include arrests, incident de-escalation, tactical responses, firearms training, crime scene investigation, crash investigations, human trafficking, use of K-9s in police work, forensics and other subjects of interest.  Cadets are also taught police ethics, team building exercises and the different levels of policing, from local to state, and even the federal level. Training is conducted by both the State Patrol Academy trainers, as well as 36 specialists in the law enforcement field. Individual career counseling is provided by five Wisconsin State Patrol troopers.

Graduation Friday saw proud parents and friends fill the graduation field to honor the cadets who had completed the training. Superintendent of the Wisconsin State Patrol, Timothy Carnahan, delivered the keynote speech, which focussed on the character of a police officer. He said, “Think of it as a bank account with credits and debits. We all make those occasional mistakes on the debit side, but as long as the credit side is filled with positive character traits, you will succeed in your pursuits. When you watch a disaster on the news, plenty of people are running from the incident, but first responders are running towards it. That is not as much courage, as it is character.” Each cadet was presented with a graduation certificate by Superintendent Carnahan and Sheriff Jim Johnson. Who knows, one day we may see several of these cadets in a police uniform.

The American Legion is an organization comprised of veterans committed to serving veterans, their families and their communities.  There are over 500 American Legion Posts located throughout the state comprised of over 51,000 members. They offer a variety of programs throughout the year supporting youth, to include the police academy, boys state government, American Legion baseball, junior marksmanship programs and sponsoring boy and girl scout troops and packs. For more information, go to wilegion.org.