Students dip into police career
BRAWLEY — Students leapt into real life scenarios as Imperial Valley Regional Occupation’s Law Enforcement Skills Competition tested their ability from Career Technical Education courses here Thursday.
Students from across Imperial County high schools gathered at Warne Field and the Lions Center Gymnasium for the second annual competition to replicate their best sketch of cognitive and physical aptitudes they’ve acquired, noted Yessenia Gallardo, IVROP guidance technician.
Allowing students to select their own team this year, Cory Van Driessche, Central Union High School’s Law Academy coordinator let students choose based on compatibility. He aimed to instill the notion that through hard work students can accomplish good things in life.
“Nothing is given to you, you need to face up to challenges,” said Van Driessche. “At the Law Academy we hold students to a higher standard and use discipline to teach them to overcome adversity.” Practicing stretches for the dummy drag (a 165-pound mannequin) Brawley Union High School senior Michelle Grado remarked she hoped her team would take first place.
She hopes to work for the Imperial County Jail as a corrections officer.
“Last year I took introduction to law with Officer Valdez and it gave me motivation,” she said.
Assisting with the dummy drag, Jonathan Pacheco, acting supervisor for public affairs of the U.S. Border Patrol El Centro Sector demonstrated to students how to properly pull the mannequin.
“It’s a great opportunity for them to put into practice what they learned,” he said. “This simulates a scenario of a person injured in an accident and the arms and head are sensitive to further injury. We try to make this as realistic as possible.”
Sgt. Jack Greer of Imperial County Sheriff’s Office, who taught Brawley students, shouted encouragement.
“The dummy drag is much tougher than it looks since it’s a dead weight but I’m really proud of my group,” he said. “We want to bring the trophy home, but I emphasize sportsmanship and fun, so I tell them ‘cheer on everybody not just your team,’ that’s the primary objective.”
It was a great way to express the skills they honed, noted Central senior Justin Velasquez, after hustling through the obstacle course.
“I’m going into the Air Force military police and then I’d like to work for the CBP or CHP,” he said.
Added teammate, senior Hillary Singh, “The competition is intense. I’m not really focusing on a law enforcement career but I’d like to be a social worker who intervenes on behalf of abused children.”
Inside the gym, Van Driessche donned the Red Man suit — a padded body armor to play the uncooperative suspect students must force to the ground. Arley Bueno, a Brawley senior, gamely took on Van Driessche, twice her size. Bueno just got accepted to San Diego State University-Imperial Valley Campus to study psychology.
“I think it’s cool learning about law enforcement,” she said. “It’s not hard, you just have to learn to fight off the opponent.”
In a knock down fight with Van Driessche, Brawley senior Sydney Greer admitted she erred when she neglected to order him to the ground.
“But it was a learning experience,” she said. “I’ll get a certificate from this course and I’ll be eligible to work at any adult detention facility in the county.”