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VIDEO: Loyalist students get hands-on training

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Former construction worker Adam Farkas knew it wasn't too late to aspire to his dream job.

After spending most of his working life in the construction trades, the 27-year-old Trenton man and father of two has embarked on the last of two years of police foundations studies at Loyalist College earlier this month.

He and fellow student Ryan Maguire put what they have learned during their first year in action Thursday morning when their teacher and program co-ordinator Michael Ferreira asked them, as part as their first training scenario enactment, to pull over a driver on the side of the road due to an expired licence plate sticker.

“It (program) has its challenges, but it's not too bad. There are lots of great learning experiences like what we are doing here this morning (Thursday),” he said, while filling out driver's licence information, following the staged arrest of a driver for impaired driving.

“I have always wanted to be a police officer since I was young and I had kids young, so I wasn't able to do it then. But I found the right sport (last year) to go back.”

Upon graduating later this year, both Farkas and Maguire would like to work for bigger cities' police departments. The students noted they'd rather build experience in the field through city-police positions, before perhaps applying for jobs within the Ontario Provincial Police.

“I don't think I would go work for the OPP right off the bat,” said Farkas, suggesting some municipal experience might be beneficial first.

“This program is not like in high school where you're just going over books. Here we actually get to engage and practise, most specially in the second year.”

Thursday's hands-on class was part of a course on provincial offences for the 31 second-year students enrolled this semester — focusing on interpreting and applying the Ontario Provincial Offences Act, including police powers of search, arrest, apprehension and laying of charges.

Ferreira noted 88 students have kicked off their first year of studies in what students and faculty refer to as PFDN, earlier this month.

“Our students engage in practical scenarios that will allow them to put classroom theory into practice and apply the law in realistic manner,” said Ferreira, while overseeing the first of two separate training scenarios.

During their first year, students like Farkas and Maguire focused on the justice system and insight into human behaviour. They also develop essential career skills in ethical decision-making, computers and communications. Second year studies specialize in interpreting and applying the law.

While students brought the program's theories to life, Maureen Piercy, president of Loyalist College in Belleville, and Belleville police Chief Cory McMullan discussed what the two-year diploma program has to offer to potential future Belleville police officers.

Thursday morning's initiative was also time to underline community support that goes towards the college program with donations of new police uniforms for students (donated by Belleville police) and new radios provided by T.A.S. Communications.

Piercy noted the college provided duty belts and other policing tools to its students.

“This is what you want to practise. These are the type of things where if you make a mistake it's not a horrible thing because you are going to remember that forever,” said McMullan, as she addressed the new generation of police officers.

“It's better that you have those experiences here. You learn about those and when you're at your retirement dinner you'll remember this and somebody may even have a picture of you from these scenarios.”

jerome.lessard@sunmedia.ca

 

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