Starting next fall, Southwest Colorado Community College\u2019s regional law enforcement academy will base operations at the \u201cWest Campus\u201d between Mancos and Cortez.<\/p>\n
Since it opened 15 years ago, the LEA has been stationed in Durango, run under the auspices of Pueblo Community College.<\/p>\n
The former San Juan Basin Technical College became part of the PCC network after a 2009 merger.<\/p>\n
Gini England, a 26-year Colorado State Patrol veteran, spearheaded the move. England was hired as LEA program director soon after she retired from the CSP in 2008.<\/p>\n
She says the current classroom setup is too cramped and fragmented.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur space is very limited,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Right now, students shuttle between seven different training sites, including the Commons Building, where the SCCC East Campus is headquartered; the Durango Gun Club, substations owned by the Durango Police Department and Montezuma County Sheriff\u2019s Office, and an old National Guard armory.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrying to juggle all these venues has grown increasingly difficult the last two years,\u201d England said. \u201cMoving to the west (campus) will eliminate the need for four of those venues.\u201d<\/p>\n
The program, at least temporarily, will keep using the Durango Gun Club for firearms training because most of the instructors are from Bayfield. High-speed chase practice also will continue in Farmington, at the city\u2019s paved driving track.<\/p>\n
Added space should allow for more \u201cscenario-based training,\u201d essentially role-playing exercises where an arrest or crime scene is recreated. After all, England says, law enforcement is more than memorizing a list of laws.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe try to put (the students) under the stress they\u2019ll feel when they finish the academy and start patrolling the streets. They learn to apply what they\u2019ve been taught to a specific incident,\u201d she said. \u201cActually practicing a traffic stop is better than sitting in a classroom learning how a traffic stop works in theory. (The students) are critiqued and get feedback on how do it safer.\u201d<\/p>\n
England has high hopes for the LEA\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to expand our program beyond a basic academy, so we also offer (continuing) courses for in-service law enforcement officers,\u201d she said, adding that an on-site driving track could be in the works as funding permits. The college owns about 40 acres of vacant land behind the West Campus.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur first step is to get anchored at the new campus before we start pursuing expansion,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Eight to 16 students normally pass through the academy at a time, though the new space could accommodate more.<\/p>\n
LEA graduates take the Peace Officers Standards and Training test \u2014 or POST.<\/p>\n
Passing it means they are eligible to apply for work with any Colorado municipal, county, state, tribe or federal law enforcement agency.<\/p>\n