Video: Graduation Day Is Special For NMLETC Class B-54

TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) – It is one of the last times Class B 54 will march in formation, but it is also one of the most important.

For the past 11 weeks, cadets have called the North Mississippi Law Enforcement Training Center home.

Now, friends , family and area law officers are at the graduation ceremony.

“I feel the best I’ve ever felt, glad I’m here, glad I could make it, just want to thank God, my family and my friends for being here, I couldn’t have done it without them, been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but one of the most fulfilling things I’ve ever done also,” said Timothy Stolz.

He is one of 14 cadets, 12 men and two women, who make up class B 54. He will work as a deputy with the Prentiss County Sheriff’s Department. During the ceremony, awards were given out in areas such as academics, firearms, and physical training.

Once certificates are given, and the oath of office is administered, they are no longer cadets, but law enforcement officers.

Brian Brown is director of the police academy and says graduation day is always special.

“You see them whenever they first come in, we watched the video of the first day, so they get to see themselves come in the first day, they see how much weight they’ve lost, they see how much grown they look, they look like they have actually matured since they have been there and you see a different air about them,” Dir. Brown said.

Northeast Mississippi’s newest law enforcement officers say the academy was life changing.

“The main thing I will take away is going home every night, officer safety,probably two of the biggest things, and the friends you have made here,” said Officer Blake Love.

“Probably, relationships I’ve built with other cadets here, just kind of shows you what kind of family you have standing behind you,” said Officer Bre Lucas.

Now the work really begins for members of class B 54. They will take everything they have learned over the past 11 weeks and put it into practice as they start their law enforcement careers and learn what it means to be true blue. The North Mississippi Law Enforcement Training Center starts a new class in late August. We would like to thank the academy and Tupelo Police Department for allowing us to follow class B 54.