BURIEN — After helping lead their class at the Washington State Basic Law Enforcement Academy, two recent academy graduates are headed back to serve on the Olympic Peninsula.
Clallam County deputies Jason Earls and Hector Eagan graduated from Class No. 813 on March 30.
Earls served as class president and Eagan as vice president. They were elected for prior accomplishments, demonstrated leadership abilities and elevated communication skills.
In their roles they acted as links in the class chain of command, organized details assigned to the class, assisted in coordinating class activities and contributed to class discipline, Clallam County Sheriff’s Office representatives noted last week.
Eagan and Earls will continue field training as they work under the direct supervision of experienced field training officers who will evaluate their performance daily, the sheriff’s office said.
Once training officers are satisfied the deputies have consistently demonstrated their competence for solo patrol, Eagan will be assigned to patrol area 1 (Sequim) and Earls to patrol areas 3 and 4 (West End communities).
The Basic Law Enforcement Academy (BLEA) is Washington state’s mandated training academy for all city and county entry-level peace officers in the state, with training locations on Burien and Spokane.
According to BLEA, officials, officers are equipped with the same base-level understanding of their responsibility to the communities they serve, standards to uphold and education for effective community-oriented policing.
“With a focus on a guardian model of policing, students attend a wide array of courses throughout their 720-hour academy experience,” BLEA officials said on the academy website at cjtc.wa.gov/training- education/blea.
Courses of instruction include training in criminal law, patrol tactics, crisis intervention and communications, criminal investigations, ethics, criminal procedures, defensive tactics and firearms.
