Thursday, July 09, 2009
New conservation police officers come with impressive backgrounds
Bill Cochran
Recent columns
For a long time, game wardens mostly were country boys whose families had enough pull to get them on the force. They made surprisingly good wardens, having the advantage of working the area where they grew up, which meant familiarity with the people and the terrain. The job came with a badge, but very little training.
Times have changed. Wardens no longer are wardens. They are conversation police officers. Recruits must graduate from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Basic Law Enforcement Academy, which involves an intensive 29-week training program. It covers more than 200 courses that challenge the applicants physically and mentally.
The academy’s fifth class graduated at the end of June, sending 20 new officers into the field where they will continue their training. They arrived with substantial backgrounds, often with college degrees, military service and experience in police work.
“This is a very impressive group of individuals,” said Bob Duncan, director of the DGIF.
“They are going to be good people to have in the field. They will serve us all well,” said Capt. Bobby Mawyer, training officer.
The new class puts the number of enforcement officers to within five positions of its maximum level, Mawyer said. Most likely sometime after the first of the year a new class will be recruited, and if the economy remains sour it should attract a lot of attention from job seekers...
For a time, DGIF had to deal with an erosion of officers as people left the agency for higher paying jobs, but that isn’t the problem it once was, said Mawyer. Most vacancies currently are the result of retirements.
While the economy has an impact on recruit and retention, what ultimately draws people to the job “is the love of the outdoors,” said Mawyer. “All have a strong background in hunting and fishing.”
Here’s a look at the newest recruits who were at the top of their class:
ANDREW HOWALD was born in northern Missouri into a family of 20 brothers and sisters. He served in the military in several venues throughout the world, often as a military police officer. Howald won the academy’s Board of Game and Inland Fisheries Award for the recruit who displayed exceptional overall performance during the training. He was assigned to Brunswick County.
IVAN KOPELOVE is a graduate of the University of Virginia with two degrees, one in environmental science and the other in biology. Kopelove received the academy’s Colonel’s Award which is awarded to the student with the highest grade point average -- 97.9869. He was assigned to Chesterfield County.
JUSTIN WHITE is a native of West Virginia and graduate of Bluefield State College with a degree in business administration and an associate degree in computer science. He won the academy’s Outstanding Boating Award and has been assigned to Bland County.
PHILIP BAKER served with the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment in Iraq and is the recipient of the Purple Heart. He won two of the academy’s major awards, the Most Physically Fit and the Top Shot for marksmanship. He is a native of Elkins, W.Va., and a graduate of National Business College. He was assigned to New Kent County.
DAVID PEAKE, II was born in Marion and earned a degree in Criminal Justice from Radford University. He won the academy’s Outstanding Driver Award and was assigned to Lunenburg County.
Here are the other graduates and their assignment area;
Nathaniel Bowling — Orange County
Mark Brewer — Floyd County
Philip Cook — New Kent County
Daniel Corley — city of Virginia Beach
Carl Dobbs — Page County
Robert Drummond — city of Virginia Beach
James Flint — Metro Richmond
Nicholas Gleeson — Greene County
Christopher Heberling — Fluvanna County
Edgar Huffman — Madison County
Robert Kemery Jr. — Lunenburg County
James Marchese — Southampton County
Marc Pengal — Albemarle County
Matthew Sandy — Mecklenburg County
Megan Vick — city of Chesapeake
Austin Wakefield — City of Suffolk
