‘The demand is obvious’: WCCC graduates 26 cadets into amid high need for police officers

Twenty-six cadets who graduated Monday from the police academy at Westmoreland County Community College shouldn’t have trouble finding jobs.

“You look around and every department is — I mean, I get constant phone calls about,‘What’s your graduating class? Can we come in and do a recruiting effort?’ ” said Police Academy Director Frank Newill. “So that trend still is going strong.”

Eight cadets secured job offers prior to graduation, according to Newill.

Graduate Luke Temple wanted to complete his training at the academy before locking down a job, but he has seen plenty of positions available.

“Almost anyone is hiring, and if they aren’t, they’re definitely hiring soon,” said Temple, 22, of Boonsboro, Md.

Because he doesn’t turn 21 until January, Gavin Scholl was unable to apply for jobs in the area in the weeks leading up to graduation. He hopes to stay close to his hometown and apply for a position at the Irwin Police Department.

“I just want to be a good example and make a change to that and be a leader and show people that you can do good and help people,” Scholl said.

About 80% of the college’s cadets land jobs at police departments in Westmoreland and Allegheny counties following graduation, Newill said, but jobs are available across the state.

Newill, who has been at the police academy since 2015, said more applicants than usual failed the physical training exam required to enter the academy this year — about 50%. The exam includes a 1.5 mile run, 300-meter sprint, push-ups and sit-ups.

In an attempt to meet police departments’ need for officers, the state has considered removing the physical training requirement, he said.

The academy’s class size has fluctuated over the past five years, Newill said, but he has not been able to identify a reason why. There were 20 cadets who graduated last year and 25 who graduated in 2021.

Two of the students who graduated Monday were Seton Hill University students. This was the first year Seton Hill partnered with the police academy, Newill said.

Through the partnership, Seton Hill criminal justice students can apply for the police academy while pursuing four-year bachelor’s degrees, said Program Coordinator Shavonne Arthurs.

“I think it’s just a really unique opportunity for our students to have it embedded in their four-year degree,” Arthurs said. “We’re pretty much one of the only universities in the area — in the Western Pennsylvania area — that does this.”

Graduating cadet Jacob Fazekas is one of those students.

Fazekas, 22, of Mt. Pleasant hopes to make an impact with the nearly 900 hours of police academy training he completed.

“There’s a lot of problems out there nowadays with drugs and things like that,” he said. “I never want to be someone who’s kind of sat back and complained about it. I wanted to go actually make an impact and help out those things.”