With the pinning of badges and a recitation of a pledge of ethics, a group of 14 cadets graduated from the Asheville Police Department’s police academy last week.
The ceremony, at A-B Tech’s Ferguson Auditorium, marked the end of 11 weeks and more than 1,000 hours of training. Coursework covers everything from how to manage a confrontation to how to handle a patrol car, and cadets must pass a written exam on each section of the training. Cadets must also submit to being Tasered and pepper-sprayed.
The other major component of the academy is rigorous physical training. Cadets participate in a daily run and must complete a police officer physical-agility test. It’s all overseen by the academy taskmaster, Lt. Gary Gudac, the department’s recruitment and training director.
The Asheville Police Department has operated its own police academy since 2005. It’s sanctioned by the N.C. Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission, and requires training above the state-mandated portion of police training commonly known as Basic Law Enforcement Training.
The new graduates are: Albert Ball Jr., Nathan R. Ball, Joseph Daniel Bilbrey, Justin A. Booth, James W. Cecil, Rodney Keith Cloer, Mark D. Crawford, Sarah J. Foley, Sarah M. Gagliano, Carl L. Greco, Nicholas R. Mitchell, Jonathan C. Morgan, Jeffrey H. Woollam and John M. Zeigler.
The next police academy class begins in September.
— Jason Sandford, multimedia editor
It is always nice to see young polished recruits.
I think Ashville Police academy is listed at http://www.policeacademyinfo.com
After an experience in which the rookie, John Zeigler, entered my Aurora Drive (Kenilworth) home without a search warrant* and rummaged around for ten or fifteen minutes, I doubt that these recruits were taught anything about ethics or constitutional rights.
*That would have been after he roughed me up on my porch and slammed me around, used vice grips on my hands, and caged me in a cruiser he had hidden up the street. God knows what the gorilla did to my dog. She was sore for three days and couldn’t even get up on the couch by herself.
The brutal arrest in 2010 by John Zeigler, while Trini Loiacono and another uniformed cop hiding under a tree in my yard watched, maimed my left arm. The brute Zeigler tried to twist my arm out of its socket and did a very good job at it, by twisting in both directions — clockwise and counter-clockwise, making it pop and destroying cartilage in the joint. I hope the sadistic brute is happy. I now have trouble using that arm to eat. I am left-handed. My arm has lost much of its range of motion, and it gets cold like it doesn’t have good circulation in it. While my right hand is always warm, my left hand is always cold. I am 70 now and will be dealing with this injury for the rest of my life, my doctor tells me. Thanks, Zeigler, you pile of ****. Of course, the warrant you arrested me on was bad and dismissed. I had done nothing wrong but defend my own premises, something I should have done in the wee hours of a Sunday morning about 3 a. m. when these rogue cops showed up and terrorized us and the entire neighborhood.