Skagit Valley College recognized its 18 cadets from the 39th Annual Parks Ranger Law Enforcement Academy (PRLEA) in a graduation ceremony on Saturday, December 17. The ceremony took place in Phillip Tarro Theatre, located on SVC’s Mount Vernon Campus.

The ceremony included the Presentation of Colors and Flag Salute, Bellingham Pipeband Pipers led by Peter Rolstad, and graduation remarks by representatives of various organizations and agencies. Each cadet received their certificate from Rick Mossman, SVC’s PRLEA Commander and Dr. Terry Edwards, Criminal Justice instructor.

Fall 2022 PRLEA Graduates

PRLEA graduating cadets: Jess Bakken, Dwight Brisbois, Brent Carrier, Daniel Chow-Hale, Pablo Closson, Zenna Crawford, Zachary Desharnais, Miranda Dockter, Michael Farley, Kyle Jones, Eric Klein, Paul Luning, Krystal Miller, Austin Petrich, Damian Ramirez, Claire Sokol, Dru Taylor, and Kelly Whittle.

About the fall 2022 PRLEA class:

  • Training for the cadets began in August;
  • The class includes 18 cadets, two of whom are military veterans and/or reservists;
  • Cadets are from Washington, Hawaii, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and Illinois.
  • 5 cadets are attending sponsored by Washington State Parks.
  • 1 cadet is attending sponsored by Snohomish County Parks.

About the Parks Ranger Law Enforcement Academy Curriculum:
SVC’s program is 17 weeks long, 728 hours in length, which includes 690 hours of Federal curriculum. The balance is a blend of Washington State curriculum, primarily state law, and traffic codes. By graduation, the cadets will have successfully passed six rigorous, Federally-administered academic tests that measure their ability to apply concepts in areas such as use of force, arrest, search and seizure, Constitutional and criminal law, authority and jurisdiction, human relations, and many other elements. They will also have engaged in a case operation which began as a scenario-based exercise, then evolved into camouflage and surveillance training, site reconnaissance, stakeout, suspect apprehension, preparing search warrants, and prosecution of the accused in a mock courtroom setting. In addition, they will have also passed a significant number of requirements in areas such as emergency vehicle operations; firearms (qualifying in semi-automatic pistols, shotguns, and patrol rifles); control and defensive tactics; interview and interrogation techniques; patrol skills; basic tactics; and physical fitness performance. They will also have had experience in many scenarios that measure their ability to perform in real-world applications of dealing with conflict management, assisting the public, and of situations they will encounter in local, state, and federal parks.

About the Academy:
The Skagit Valley College Parks Law Enforcement Academy is one of only six programs taught at the college or university level that is approved by the National Park Service and accredited by the Federal Law Enforcement Training Accreditation Board in the United States. The curriculum is also accepted by Washington State Parks, State Parks throughout the country, and numerous county parks in Washington.

SVC’s program has been in existence since 1990, with the first academy taking place in 1991. More than 1,000 cadets have graduated from the program since its first year.

While many PRLEA graduates have enjoyed successful careers in local, state, or national parks, others have joined agencies across the nation, including local police departments, county sheriff’s offices, State Patrol, U.S. Forest Service, state and federal fish and wildlife, tribal police, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Pentagon Police, U.S. Secret Service, and the FBI.