POTSDAM — The SUNY Potsdam Law Enforcement Training Institute proudly celebrated the graduation of its Basic Police and Peace Officer Training programs with a ceremony held on July 18 at Knowles Hall on the SUNY Potsdam campus.

The ceremony marked the culmination of months of rigorous training that began on March 3rd. More than 300 family members, friends, and law enforcement professionals gathered to honor the graduates on their final day of training.

The graduating class included 21 hired area Police Officers, one School Resource Officer, and one Probation Officer. These newly certified officers will now begin an intensive field training program with their respective agencies.

Graduates include:

St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office: Thomas Baker, John Melville, Bruce Reynolds, Deven Zulauf, and Garrett Zulauf.

Ogdensburg City Police Department: Jordan Fifield, Payton Frisina, Kyle Gaumes, Taylor Kenyon, Dominic Monacelli, and Jaelynn Richards.

Potsdam Police Department: Matthew Gollinger and Zachery Rottier.

Malone Village Police Department: Karli St. Ann and Lawrence Hopkinson (School Resource Officer).

Norwood Police Department: Ethan Ryan and Jarrett St. Hilaire.

SUNY Potsdam University Police: Charles Van Etten.

Massena Village Police Department: Zachary Labarge.

Franklin County Sheriff's Department: Alexzander Boyea.

Franklin County Probation Department: Zachary Frank.

The SUNY Potsdam Law Enforcement Training Institute remains committed to developing the next generation of public safety professionals through high-quality, comprehensive training programs designed to prepare recruits for careers in law enforcement and community service.

SUNY Potsdam’s Law Enforcement Training Academy has rapidly become one of the most in-demand training programs across the North Country, drawing praise and preference from local Sheriffs, Police Chiefs, and Probation Directors.

The Academy distinguishes itself with a strong, consistent focus on today’s most pressing and high-impact law enforcement concepts. Training is conducted daily on topics critical to effective, ethical, and community-minded policing, including Community Policing, Building Community Trust, Duty to Intervene, Constitutional Rights, Search and seizure laws designed to protect — not infringe upon — the rights of the public, De-escalation Techniques, Crisis Intervention, Implicit Bias Awareness, and Fair and Impartial Policing.

The next cohort starts Aug. 25 that will include Police, Peace and Pre-Employment SUNY Potsdam Students. This training will extend until Dec. 12. The next Academy will then commence with Police, Peace and SUNY Potsdam Pre-Employment college students on Jan. 20 at which time this will mark a permanent January - May training going forward.