VGCC Law Enforcement Grads Hear Their Lives Will Change

If you think the Basic Law Enforcement curriculum at Vance-Granville Community College is not hard, consider this. Of the 13 students who began the training with Class 73, only six graduated April 30 and earned state certification as law enforcement officers.

Graduating with Class 73 following 600 hours of instruction were Gerrod Bennett Gay of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department, Alvin Russell Roberts Jr. of Franklinton, Michael Adam Guillory of the Warren County Sheriff’s Department, Jacquelynn Elizabeth Werner of the Oxford Police Department, and Timothy Daniel Roberson and William Daniel Walker of the Roxboro Police Department.

Phillip Duke, director of Health and Public Safety at John Umstead Hospital in Butner, was the guest speaker at the graduation. He is a graduate of the 48th BLET class at Vance-Granville in 1991, a graduate of VGCC’s law enforcement instructor training and an instructor in the BLET program.

Duke told the graduates he knows there were days when they wondered if the pain and stress were worth it, but they would soon realize they were worth it all. Then he cautioned them, “From the day you take the oath of office, your life will change. You will sleep, eat, breathe law enforcement,” Duke said.

 “Your families will witness a transformation that will astound them,” the speaker said. “And you will become one of the nation’s finest.”

Duke spoke of the types of modern equipment law enforcement officers are being given to do their jobs, “But the one tool you have that is more important than all of them combined is your knowledge,” he said. Continue to train and to study, he advised the graduates.

Michael Guillory of the Warren County Sheriff’s Department was the big winner among awards presented by Tony Pendergrass, VGCC law enforcement training coordinator. Guillory took the Academic Award for the highest grade average on the 32 blocks of instruction upon which the class was tested, and he also took the Top Gun Award for the best scores firing pistol, rifle and shotgun.

Timothy Roberson of the Roxboro Police Department won the Physical Fitness Award for the best results in the rigorous physical tests the graduates had to pass.

Graduates of Vance-Granville Community College’s 73 rd Basic Law Enforcement Training class are, front, from left: William D. Walker, Jacquelynn E. Werner and Michael A. Guillory. On the back row are, from left: Tony Pendergrass, VGCC law enforcement training coordinator, Gerrod B. Gay, Timothy D. Roberson and Alvin R. Roberts Jr.