Fallon honors POST graduates

A Churchill County deputy and three Fallon police officers recently graduated from the Nevada Peace Officer Standards and Training Academy.

Deputy Mike Davis was among those honored at the graduation ceremony at the POST building in Carson City. The Fallon officers were Austin Wood, Zachary Jacobs and Joseph Shyne. There were 28 officers from all across Nevada sworn in as Category I peace officers, meaning they had all of the training to serve as law enforcement officers.

Orlando Guerra, POST commander, talked to the graduation attendees about the difficulties law enforcement officers face today with negative media and perception.

“It takes a special human being (to be an officer),” Guerra said. “And the only thanks they often get is negative comments.

“But despite these negatives, we can count on them to serve and protect and that’s what we have here, 28 men and women who are willing to serve and protect. Let’s not forget to thank them for their service.”

POST Executive Director Mike Sherlock and Fallon Police Chief Kevin Gehman both spoke to the graduates to express their pride in the officers. Gehman told the officers that being in law enforcement was more than writing tickets and arresting, it was about serving the community and upholding good character.

“No matter what a person of good character takes on, they will be successful,” Gehman said.

The class-elected speaker, Pershing County Sheriff’s deputy Glenn Reed, also gave his parting advice to his classmates.

“School is not over my friends; the next few years will be learning and failures of these principles we have learned here,” Reed said. “The challenge I have for you: stay alert and avoid complacency, make a conscious effort to make a positive change and for God’s sake, please don’t end up on YouTube.

“I wanted to also share a piece of advice my first Field Training Officer gave me that stuck with me, ‘we have a front row seat to the greatest show on earth, cherish it.’”

Each graduate was presented with a certificate of completion and congratulations letters from national and state representatives before reciting their peace officer’s oath.

To complete the academy, each officer trained for 16 weeks, with 638 intensive hours of training.