FDLTCC Law Enforcement Skills Training Program graduation ceremony held Friday

Fond Du Lac Tribal & Community College held a graduation ceremony for the graduates of the Law Enforcement Skills Training Program on Friday afternoon.

For some, completing this training has been a goal for years.

“I even have a drawing of when I was in kindergarten of me wanting to be a police officer,” said graduate Bradley Felmlee. “I feel like now some people may stray away from it, but I feel like it’s still a very noble field to get into.”

This class had 15 graduates instead of the usual 40. There were, however, benefits to the smaller class size.

“You also get more teacher per student interaction with the low class size,” said graduate Katie Latourelle. “You learn to see more, more of the law enforcement program in itself. You get more reps to do things like traffic stops, and you get to see and experience more of what the training is all about.”

Wade Lamirande has been the Law Enforcement Program Coordinator for the past eight years. He is retiring from the role but will still be around to teach a course within the program.

“Every class has their own personality, and we’ve really enjoyed this class with it being a smaller class,” said Lamirande. “And I felt that we’ve been able to get to know them a little bit better. Now there’s a lot of opportunity for them because there’s so many opportunities for jobs in law enforcement.”

With increased scrutiny in the public eye, law enforcement has been a difficult field to get into over the last few years. Despite this, the graduates remain hopeful.

“For a lot of us, it actually encouraged us to really be a part of that change that’s necessary in law enforcement right now and be able to help our communities and not hurt them, said Felmlee.

“We still have people calling 911,” said graduate Mona Zeidan. “We still have people that need us, and that is an honor in itself to be able to put on that uniform and get into our squad cars and go help those people. Because at the end of the day, we respond to our community and our community is what’s important to us.”