Seventeen New Officers Are Protecting And Serving Northeast Mississippi

TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) – There are seventeen new police officers and sheriff’s deputies protecting and serving throughout Northeast Mississippi.

The graduation ceremony marks the end of twelve weeks of hard work at Tupelo’s North Mississippi Law Enforcement Training Center.

While at the academy, cadets get an overview of police work, from physical training, constitutional law, firearms and OC spray training, and many other subjects.

Graduate Eric Benson says the academy was challenging but has prepared him to serve with the Amory Police Department.

“PT was hard on the body, they told us from the beginning everything meant something, everything we have done, pushups, burpees, everything meant something, towards the end we found out it really does,” said Officer Benson.

Dean Bearden is director of the academy and says the past twelve weeks have prepared the officers for the next step in their mission to protect and serve.

“Graduation, as I tell the cadets, that’s not the end of training, it’s the beginning of your training, we see them come out here, it’s a pride for us, me as a director, our instructors, but then now we want to see them out there succeeding on the streets, it’s a little different story because there’s no safety net,” Bearden said.

Officer Diego Sotomeneses is an Army Combat Veteran. He was also Platoon Leader for Class B 66 and will work with the Starkville Police Department. He’s looking forward to serving his community, just like he served his country in the Army.

“This is the time when you stand up, this is when you grab your flag and stand up for the people that need you, serve a community, help others in need, not when everything’s good, but when everything is at its worst, as we know, last year, God knows what will happen this year, this is where you stand up for those people, get training, endure and put yourself through the struggle to find out who you really are and what you’re made of,” Officer Sotomeneses said.

Graduates of Class B 66 will be paired with a field training officer at their departments for the next few months.