VGCC Graduates 17 New Law Enforcement Officers in School’s 84th BLET Class
Seventeen cadets graduated Dec. 19 from the Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) course at Vance-Granville Community College. After passing the state certification exam, all 17 are authorized to work in any law enforcement agency in North Carolina.
Graduates of VGCC’s 84th BLET class included Maron Denel Alexander, Gary Michael Robinson and Jesse Adam Salmon, all of the Warren County Sheriff’s Office; Allen Eugene Batchelor, Bobby Douglas Murphy, Jason Alexander Poplawski, Matthew Leslie Tharrington, Raymond Rudolph Vaughan and Samuel Troy Wheless, all of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office; Dale Lynn Blasiman, Anthony William Griffen and Travis Matthew Knight, all of the Vance County Sheriff’s Office; David Ernest Pitman, Jr. of the Henderson Police Department, Nicholas Lee Williams of Butner Public Safety, Robert Conrad Prichard, Nathen Allen Wertz Rinker and Steven Paul Smith.
BLET students chose Granville County Sheriff’s Deputy Chad Coffey to be their guest speaker for the graduation ceremony, held in the VGCC Civic Center on Main Campus. Coffey is a part-time BLET instructor and a graduate of the VGCC program. “I knew from early childhood that I wanted to be a police officer, after I found out I couldn’t be Superman,” Coffey said. He encouraged graduates to stay motivated and passionate about their work. Coffey advised them that the day-to-day stresses of law enforcement work might lead them to ask “Is it worth it?” but that “the answer is always ‘Yes!’”
Samuel Troy Wheless spoke on behalf of his fellow students.
Tony Pendergrass, the coordinator of law enforcement training at VGCC, praised the class for completing 624 hours of grueling training over 16 weeks. Pendergrass thanked the 45 instructors who helped train the class, the local chiefs of police and sheriffs who support the program and the families and friends who supported and encouraged the students.
Coffey and Greg Hughes, a VGCC law enforcement/corrections instructor, presented certificates to the graduates. Pendergrass handed out awards to the top students in the class in three categories. Matthew Leslie Tharrington won the “Top Gun” Award for having the highest accuracy score in weapons firing, and Samuel Troy Wheless took the Physical Fitness Award for scoring highest in the various fitness tests the cadets undergo. Bobby Douglas Murphy was presented with the Academic Achievement Award for having the top grade average in the 35 written tests each cadet must take and pass.
For more information on the BLET program, contact Tony Pendergrass at pendergrass@vgcc.edu.
Above: Graduates of Vance-Granville Community College’s Basic Law Enforcement Training Class 84 are, first row, from left: Gary Michael Robinson, Dale Lynn Blasiman and Nathen Allen Wertz Rinker; second row, from left: Steven Paul Smith, Allen Eugene Batchelor and Anthony William Griffen; third row, from left: Travis Matthew Knight, Robert Conrad Prichard and Nicholas Lee Williams; fourth row, from left: Raymond Rudolph Vaughan, David Ernest Pitman, Jr. and Matthew Leslie Tharrington; fifth row, from left: Jesse Adam Salmon and Samuel Troy Wheless; sixth (top) row, from left: Bobby Douglas Murphy, Jason Alexander Poplawski and Maron Denel Alexander. (VGCC Photo)
