Three Jasper police officers graduate today

Jasper Police Department Officers Greg Brescher, Dakota Foote, and Grant Goffinet will graduate from the Indiana Law Enforcement Basic Session on Friday, March 14, 2014 following a 15-week course to prepare them to serve the citizens of Jasper.

The Academy’s basic training course for new police officers consists of a minimum of 600 hours of training in a variety of areas. Criminal and traffic law, firearms, emergency vehicle operations, physical tactics, human behavior and first responder training are some of the major areas of concentration during this course. Other police related subjects such as accident investigation, crime prevention and evidence collection are included in the officers’ studies before they graduate.

Jasper Police Chief J. Michael Bennett underscored the importance of the training, “The academy’s approach prepares our new officers for the rigors of the job by incorporating physical, mental and emotional tactics. In addition, it provides an introduction to the fundamentals needed by all officers.”

The Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in Plainfield is governed by the Law Enforcement Training Board, which was established in 1967. Training became mandatory for newly appointed officers in 1972, and the first class was held at the Plainfield facility in 1975.

Brescher, Foote and Goffinet will be paired up with the department’s certified field training officers for a period of approximately 8 weeks. During this period they will be handling all calls under the watchful eye of the veteran officers. They will continually be gaining knowledge in all aspects of law enforcement and how it relates specifically to local laws and ordinances.