Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

FROM STAFF REPORTS

The TCAT-Elizabethton Criminal Justice program is holding its first “Field Training Officer” course this week.  

Wayne South, a native of Johnson County and retired field training officer, was the lead instructor in this 40-hour TCAT course.  

The course is designed to provide new field training officers with the basic skills needed to train new law enforcement and corrections agency recruit or employee.   

Myles Cook, who team-teaches criminal justice with South, said “This is the first time I’m aware of that agencies and a college system has partnered in training in this manner.”  

Attendees are trained to recognize the common problems which often occur with new employee hires, Cook said. The course is recognized by both the Police Officers Standard Training and Tennessee Corrections Institute.  

This vision of “shared training” between the college, corrections, and law enforcement agencies is a new model implemented by the TCAT Elizabethton Criminal Justice Program. 

Students attending the week-long TCAT course were from a variety of agencies, including Tennessee Department of Corrections, Ballad Health Security, Greeneville Police Department, Jonesborough Police Department, Carter County Sheriffs Department, Johnson County Sheriff’s Department, Core Civic, Tennessee State Parks, and Northeast State Campus Police.   

Cook said this was one of the most diverse classes he had seen in the arena of public safety training, which greatly benefits students in new ideas and the different ways field training can be achieved. 

According to Cook, this model offers a reasonable and low to no-cost option to greatly improve training within the state, job readiness and opportunity for prospective students, and greater hiring options and budget abilities for local and state agencies.  

The mutual benefits of this model cannot be overestimated, for students- agencies- and training in general, Cook said.