A-B Tech’s Basic Law Enforcement Training conducted graduation ceremonies June 27 in Ferguson Auditorium for the 2017 Spring Day BLET Class and the 2016 Fall Night BLET Class with more than 30 graduates. Most of the graduates have already been hired by the Asheville Police Department, Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department, and other law enforcement agencies.
Chris Campbell, a 2004 BLET graduate and a graduate of Western Carolina University, and a polygraph operator for the SBI, was the featured speaker. “This job is dangerous, but that doesn’t mean it has to be scary. We work as a team and watch out for each other as much as we can,” he said.
Chief Tammy Hooper, Chief of the Asheville Police Department, urged graduates to make their mental and physical health a priority since stress kills so many law enforcement officers. “Remember to treat people with respect and dignity,” she said.
The classes had a 100 percent pass rate with no grades below a B, according to Daryl Fisher, Director of BLET. “We even had to shut down class for half a week because of a flu outbreak,” he said.
