The Prince William County Police Department announced on May 14 the graduation of the 63rd session of its Criminal Justice Academy Basic Law Enforcement School. The ceremony took place at Grace Life Community Church in Bristow and included eleven new officers for the county police department and one deputy for the county sheriff’s office.
The event marks a significant step for public safety in Prince William County, as graduates completed a comprehensive 24-week training program covering firearms, use-of-force decision making, driver training, legal education, patrol techniques, criminal investigation, and crash investigation.
This graduating class includes two women and represents a diverse group with fifty-eight percent identifying as Hispanic or African American. One graduate is fluent in Spanish. Five recruits are natives of Prince William County while others come from New York, Texas, South Carolina, California, and other parts of Virginia. Five have college degrees in fields such as criminal justice and psychology; two have prior law enforcement experience; three have military backgrounds or remain active service members.
Among those recognized were Jonathan Aleriano-Perez (also serving with the U.S. Navy), Eddie Barrera (fluent in Spanish), Maria Bravo (Spanish speaker), Dominic Brown (local graduate), Zachary Melton (former U.S. Army member), Brandon Moody (former U.S. Marine Corps sergeant), Dominic Oviedo (psychology degree holder), Seth Plaster (previously served with Culpeper County Sheriff’s Office), Nicholas Schneider (former police cadet), Benjamin Scott (class vice-president and former Henrico County Sheriff’s Office employee), Kayla Tomdio (class president with a graduate degree in cybercrime investigation) and Logan Wowak (class guide whose brother also serves on the force).
Photos from the ceremony are available on the PWCPolice Flickr album. The department continues to seek applicants for police officer positions through its website joinpwcpd.org.
