In September 2022, when the High Country Training Academy at Coconino Community College welcomed its first class of recruits, it was a big step for local law enforcement.

The Flagstaff Police Department (FPD), Coconino County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO), and Northern Arizona University Police Department (NAU PD), in collaboration with the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission (AZ POST), have: We have designed a 21-week curriculum that aims to provide A peace officer with the basic education necessary to protect and serve in northern Arizona.

The first nine graduates of High Country Training Academy recently gathered at Flagstaff City Hall to celebrate their achievements. Four were recruited to his CCSO and five to his FPD.

Everyone has different motivations for starting a career in law enforcement, and this class will show you just that.

Dominic Cortez, 22, grew up in Victorville, California. His brother became involved in gangs in the area and Cortez decided to go in the opposite direction, enrolling in his NAU’s criminal justice degree program. After graduating in the summer of 2022, he was recruited by his CCSO and he was one of the first to pass through the doors of the Country Training Academy.

So did Duane Tewa, a third-generation Hopi member from Flagstaff. For Tewa, being hired at CCSO was the beginning of a new chapter.

Tewa is 50 years old. After his 20 years fighting wildfires with the U.S. Forest Service, he traded his helmet and ax for a badge and a gun. He wants to be a detective and is particularly passionate about cracking down on drunk driving.

Lerano Brown is also transitioning out of retirement into the next phase of a life of service. Brown was deployed to Afghanistan and was an infantryman in the United States Marine Corps. His experience there shaped his decision to join the Sheriff’s Department.

“Seeing how chaotic the community was over there changed my view of the state here. I was.

He was born and raised on a settlement near Pinon. Brown decided to return to the area and once again abandon his civilian life—to tackle the challenges the Peace Officers Training Academy promised to provide.

The Academy is designed to be nothing short of a tough challenge. Not everyone who enrolls can graduate.

Patrick Collins, 33, knows that better than anyone. A Phoenix transplant, Collins has previously attended the Law Enforcement Academy. Last time he didn’t graduate. Still, Collins knew he wasn’t cut out for an office job. he wanted to do something important.

AZ POST requires recruits to undergo 663 hours of training. In High Country, Collins and his buddies trained him for 832 hours. Despite the rigors of the days and longer curriculum, this time Collins found himself shaking hands with Sheriff Jim Driscoll at the Flagstaff City Council.

There are quite a few hurdles left for Officers in Training (OIT) to put on their uniforms and badges and set off on their own.

The process of becoming a lieutenant or police officer begins with applying to and being hired by law enforcement. For example, when a recruit is recruited into his FPD, the department pays for the academy’s training. After graduating from the academy, OIT spends several weeks in post-training instruction. They learn about different aspects of this job, shadowing detectives, assisting with field breathalyzer tests, and shadowing search and rescue (for CCSO OIT).

After post-training, OITs are assigned a Field Training Officer (FTO) to accompany them on beats and service calls.

“The entire field training program lasts four months,” CCSO spokesperson Jon Paxton said. You can see them do it because they can’t be machines.In my time there were people who did great in the academy but didn’t do well in the expedition.

Each OIT’s performance is evaluated and evaluated along the way, and may be rejected for not meeting the institution’s standards. At the end of field training, academy graduates can be considered police officers or sheriff’s deputies.

Still, Academy graduates like 22-year-old Logan Brannan are looking forward to the challenges ahead.

“I joined the academy and applied to the Flagstaff Police Department because I wanted to help people.I think that is the biggest need right now.We need to help people. I think we are divided as a country right now, and I want to change that,” Brannan said.

He was recruited by the FPD and proved to be a good recruit at the academy.

In addition to his diploma, Brannan received a summit award, according to FPD spokesperson Jerry Rintala. This meant he received the highest average scores in his academics, shooting and physical fitness, officially distinguishing him as the “Top Overall Recruit”.

Mr. Brannan said he was surprised to learn how complicated a police officer’s job can be. he said

“The biggest thing that I thought was great about this academy is that we have local instructors, people who work for the CCSO, the Flagstaff Police Department, the NAU Police Department. They had to tell us what we were looking to see, what to expect, and how to handle those situations. I think the best thing about having an academy is that we get to see those kinds of problems and get to plunge into it instead of just going to Phoenix and seeing their problems. We can discuss local issues.”

That is one of the reasons why FPD, CCSO and NAU PD worked together to establish an academy at CCC. Curriculum can be tailored to meet the needs of local institutions in a variety of ways.

Neither the FPD nor the CCSO have had enough officers in their forces to fully man the force for some time. Staffing shortages only increase the likelihood of headcount reductions, a daily challenge for both departments.

According to Paxton, hiring alone won’t help uniformed officers quickly fill the needed gaps.

“The big challenge is that there are so many jobs going on across the state that it’s hard to get a spot. [at academies]”We may have six good candidates who want to join and start, but there are only three spots available,” Paxton said. It’s a big plus.”

FPD is also composed almost entirely of paper-based staff. We are in the process of getting new recruits into the academy, graduates into field training, and field-trained officers into patrols. CCSO is still sending recruits to other academies, but having Hi his country in his backyard is helping speed that process and his FPD.

Also, this class of graduates cost less to bring on board than it would have otherwise.

Flagstaff Police Chief Dan Musselman estimates it will cost about $10,000 to train each new recruit at other academies in the state in September when training begins. In addition to tuition, I pay a daily allowance and cover the cost of temporary housing for 21 weeks.

Collins was able to move to Flagstaff two weeks before starting the academy. He didn’t need temporary housing and was able to quickly start settling into the community he wanted to work as a substitute for.

Paxton remembers his academy experience over 30 years ago. AZ POST had already moved their academy out of Flagstaff, so he trained in Tucson. Meanwhile, his wife and new-born child had to stay with their parents in Phoenix before the whole family began to take root in Flagstaff.Paxton said that high his country students He said he was grateful to be able to go home to his family every night.

Currently, the High Country Training Academy operates once a year. This time only NAU PD, FPD and CCSO employers attended his training at CCC.

Rintala said the academy would eventually grow to serve other agencies statewide.

So far, new recruits say the all-new curriculum and instructors have met and exceeded their expectations.

“We were class 1. It was my first time directing an academy for all of them, but you can’t really tell. They always seemed to have a plan. Especially us at recruit level.” For me, many of the expected growing pains weren’t so obvious,” Collins said.

Brannan said he felt the staff were passionate and supportive while also challenging new hires and striving to hold them to high standards.

“They showed motivation and determination throughout the academy. So they took the time to stay a little longer than the allotted time, which I thought was nice,” Brown said.

Tewa added that he felt the instructor’s skill set was unmatched.

“This was a huge amount of information they gave us,” he said. “They tried to boil it down to a level that we could understand. It was a bit like drinking from a fire hose. and put it into a form, a template, that I could put into practice,” he said.

Each recruit applies their own motivations and goals to the task of becoming an independent patrol officer. Our nine graduates have different goals, including age, background, and motivation.

Brannan and Cortez want to start patrolling the streets, Tewa aspires to be a detective, and Collins wants to join the Crisis Response Team as a negotiator.

“My overall aim is to change the way we look at law enforcement today. Community service, helping people in public,” said Brown, who hopes to one day receive SWAT training. .