By Joanna Putman
Police1
HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. — The Basic Law Enforcement Training program at a North Carolina community college has been suspended for at least five years due to alleged excessive violence against cadets and falsified training, WLOS reported.
Record
s obtained by WLOS revealed that six instructors from the Blue Ridge Community College Basic Law Enforcement Training Program face hearings in August. The suspension affects all commission courses, and the BLET class set to graduate on July 31, 2024, will now receive diplomas from a different program where they completed their training.
The letter that WLOS obtained via a public records request was addressed to the school from the North Carolina Criminal Justice Standards Division, according to the report. The letter detailed the findings of the misconduct probe and the consequences prescribed for the violations.
According to the letter, the probe found that training practices at the college compromised the health, safety and welfare of students and were outside the scope of state training objectives. The use of non-certified instructors who engaged in excessive violence against students was a significant violation, according to the report. These role players, highly trained in martial arts, were not corrected by staff during the training.
In addition to violence during Subject Control Arrest Techniques (SCAT) Training, similar issues were identified in other courses, including patrol techniques, where a student suffered a spinal fracture in the fall of 2023, according to the letter. The program also falsified student participation in the police officer physical ability test and failed to ensure trainees completed physical ability testing, according to the report.
“The point of the basic law enforcement training is to achieve and demonstrate a minimum level of competency for those training to be officers. Failure to verify these places both the students and public at risk for potential incompetence,” the Standards Division said in a statement.
Despite being alerted to these issues in the fall of 2023, the college made no changes to its command chain for certified courses in 2024. Although the college has stated it adjusted instruction and instructors, the Standards Division’s investigation found otherwise, according to the letter.
The NC Criminal Justice Standards Division identified 15 rule violations by Blue Ridge Community College, including failing to provide qualified assistants, allocate sufficient financial resources, select certified instructors and administer courses according to Commission-approved plans, according to the report
Blue Ridge Community College issued a statement expressing concern over the suspension and commitment to resolving the issues to meet the future needs of law enforcement partners, according to the report. The college emphasized its history of providing BLET instruction and the steps taken to address the concerns, including self-reporting to the CJ Standards Commission and pausing the program.