AVON PARK — During a ceremony on Friday, Aug. 15 on South Florida State College’s (SFSC) Highlands Campus in Avon Park, SFSC’s Basic Law Enforcement (BLE) Academy Class 273 the Cross Over to Basic Law Enforcement Class 366 graduated 13 cadets. Okeechobee County residents made up more than half the class.

The graduates who received Career Certificates were Dilmer LaRowe (class leader), Reece Baker, Nathan Conroy, William Cusick, Gavin Harden, Jeffery Johnson, Travis Likens, Kyle Lowe, Lawrence Merlino, Cameron Morris, Jose Pontinela Jr., Austin Rhodes, and Emmanuel Rodriguez-Sanchez.

LaRowe, Baker, Conroy, Harden, Lowe, Morris and Rhodes are from Okeechobee.

Guest speaker for the graduation was Lt. C. Wayne Gunn of the Highlands County Sheriff’s Department.

SFSC’s Basic Law Enforcement Career Certificate program trains students to become law enforcement officers in Florida. By successfully completing the program, they are eligible to take the state certification examination to become certified law enforcement officers. The program runs 770 contact hours or approximately five months full-time or approximately 10 months part-time.

The Correction to Law Enforcement (Crossover) Career Certificate program trains currently employed corrections officers to become law enforcement officers in Florida. Upon successful completion of the program, graduates are eligible to take the state certification examination to become certified law enforcement officers. The program runs 515 contact hours or approximately 10 months part time.

For more information about these programs, visit southflorida.edu or call SFSC’s Criminal Justice Academy at 863-784-7285.