Police Academy grads find jobs

Nearly all of the recent graduates from the Grand Valley State University Police Academy have found jobs in law enforcement.

Twenty-nine people graduated from the academy August 16 and all 29 passed the State Law Enforcement examination. Nineteen of the graduates have been hired in law enforcement jobs with four additional graduates in the last stages of the hiring process at law enforcement agencies.

“The great news is that our graduates have been employed by at least 11 different agencies, which seems to show a trend for increased hiring in many departments,” said Julie Yunker, director of Grand Valley’s Police Academy Training Center. “Law enforcement agencies in Michigan have had very limited hiring in the past three years, so this is great news for anyone who is considering a career in law enforcement.”

The academy is conducted once a year during the spring/summer semester, May–August. Grand Valley’s academy goes beyond the mandatory minimum training requirement of 594 hours set by the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and provides 638 hours of instruction in 16 weeks. The academy is a leader in the state, introducing innovative training methods and techniques that are setting the bar for law enforcement education.

Applications for the 2013 GVSU Police Academy are available at www.gvsu.edu/cj/policeacademy. Applications are due on January 15, 2013, and the selection process will begin then.

For more information, contact Julie Yunker at (616) 331-8515.