{"id":23231,"date":"2025-03-09T15:42:57","date_gmt":"2025-03-09T21:42:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/pccs-law-enforcement-academy-enlists-cortez-officers-to-prepare-cadets\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T04:29:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:29:52","slug":"pccs-law-enforcement-academy-enlists-cortez-officers-to-prepare-cadets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/pccs-law-enforcement-academy-enlists-cortez-officers-to-prepare-cadets\/","title":{"rendered":"PCC\u2019s law enforcement academy enlists Cortez officers to prepare cadets"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cadets
Cadets train at PCC\u2019s Southwest Regional Law Enforcement Academy. The academy has recently hired a new manager following the retirement of Doug Parker in 2025. (Kristin Cannon\/Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

The Southwest Regional Law Enforcement Academy at Pueblo Community College has been educating future law enforcement officers for years, and this year is no different. Cadets learn how to positively impact the communities they\u2019ll serve while learning from those who are already making an impact in local law enforcement agencies.<\/p>\n

Two Cortez Police Department cadets and one Dolores County cadet are attending the current class, which will end on May 29. The cadets will officially graduate on June 1.<\/p>\n

The academy takes 20 weeks to complete, and class sizes are typically 14 to 16 cadets. Seven Cortez Police Department officers and five officers from the Montezuma County Sheriff\u2019s Office are teaching at the academy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe director and other instructors teaching at the academy do a spectacular job and are very passionate about providing the cadets with the most current training to prepare them for what, hopefully, is a long successful career,\u201d Detective Lt. Angelo Martinez told The<\/em> Journal<\/em>. Martinez has been teaching at the academy for 10 years, teaching a variety of topics, including firearms, Taser and white collar computer crimes.<\/p>\n

Though many cadets are already hired or in the process of being hired by a law enforcement agency by the time they start the program, this isn\u2019t required. Many are hired while in the program. Cadets who have already been hired often have an agreement with their sponsor to share the cost of the academy, according to academy director Douglas Parker.<\/p>\n

\"Cadets
Cadets receive hands-on training while in the academy. (Kristin Cannon\/Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

This program is also one of a kind.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a 20-week course and very intensive,\u201d Parker said. \u201cNo other course I know takes new, untrained people at they start and in 20 weeks makes them career ready. It is a unique challenge which requires depth of discipline and commitment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cortez PD\u2019s Detective Kristin Cannon has been teaching at the academy since 2021 and teaches emergency vehicle operations courts and domestic violence. Cannon noted that the program helps equip cadets to make a difference in the communities they serve and that she tries to teach what she wished she had learned as a cadet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also love how law enforcement provides opportunities to positively impact communities in every day interactions, and I try to instill that concept into the cadets from the start,\u201d Cannon said.<\/p>\n

Cannon emphasized the need for more women officers.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt present, only 3% of police leadership positions are held by women. Women bring extremely valuable experience and insight to this profession and have particular skill in helping victims of sexual and domestic violence,\u201d Cannon said. \u201cThey\u2019re also proven to be less likely to use excessive force. There are many reasons recruiting women has a profoundly positive impact on communities and police departments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because women are also \u201cdisproportionately affected by crime,\u201d Cannon noted that women officers can often respond to domestic violence calls with more empathy than their male counterparts.<\/p>\n

\u201cLaw enforcement gives you the opportunity to be the first point of contact for crime victims and really show them some grace, support and guidance in the worst moments of their lives,\u201d Cannon said.<\/p>\n

Detective Thomas Quinnett, who has been teaching at the academy for six years and teaches drug identification and symptomology, he tries to teach cadets to stay safe and serve their communities with integrity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to emphasize that they stay safe and vigilant as a police officer at all times,\u201d Quinnett said. \u201cWe never want to underestimate how dangerous being a police officer is in this day and age. And above all, serve their community with integrity. This involves the commitment to honesty and a willingness to do what\u2019s right at all times.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parker also shared ways those interested in becoming cadets can prepare for the academy.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo prepare for the academy, take some basic writing and English courses \u2026 Law enforcement requires officers to compose reports every day. They must learn how to create content themselves; AI and templates don\u2019t fill the bill,\u201d Parker said. \u201cDon\u2019t come to the academy to get into shape \u2026 Prospective cadets should prepare with cross-fit classes and cardio.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parker added that interested individuals should schedule a ride along with local agencies to better understand \u201cthe job and its challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cannon said cadets should enroll and wish to be officers \u201cfor the right reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo it for the right reasons,\u201d Cannon said. \u201cIt sounds cheesy, but if you want to make a positive impact in your community, consider applying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quinnett noted that cadets should understand the commitment it takes to be a law enforcement officer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you plan on going to the police academy, you must start with making smart choices and prepare now to meet the requirements. The criteria will push you to your limits mentally, physically and emotionally,\u201d Quinnett said. \u201cLaw enforcement is a huge commitment and may take you away from family time, children sports and activities, to include weekends and holidays. It will also be very rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a challenging, rewarding, exciting job,\u201d Martinez echoed. \u201cThere are going to be tough calls, tough cases, tough days and sometimes you may not always catch a suspect, but you do get the reward of making a difference in someone\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Southwest Regional Law Enforcement Academy is located in Mancos and employs 30 active police officers as instructors, representing nine local agencies.<\/p>\n

The academy offers 684 to 775 training hours, exceeding the required 556, and covers topics like criminal law, patrol techniques, firearms, driving and arrest control and scenario-based training.<\/p>\n

The 67-credit program prepares graduates for the statewide POST exam and careers in various law enforcement roles, such as patrol officers, detectives and supervisors.<\/p>\n

Those who wish to apply to the program or learn more can do so online<\/a> at www.pueblocc.edu\/programs\/lea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

instructor noted the need for more women in law enforcement<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,52,83,60,29,51],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-23231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-law-enforcement","tag-mancos","tag-montezuma-county","tag-newsletter","tag-police"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23231"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78028,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23231\/revisions\/78028"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23231"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=23231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}