Seven students from the Savannah Technical College Peace Officer Academy celebrated graduating from the program with a completion ceremony today. The two women and five men have completed coursework containing the entire Georgia Peace Officer Standards & Training Basic Law Enforcement Training Course. Their successful completion of the program qualifies them to be state-certified peace officers.

This is the 21st group of students to complete the program since its inception in 2009. To date, the program has graduated 286 P.O.S.T.-certified officers. Many candidates are in various stages of the application process with statewide agencies. Several candidates have been hired by area police departments. Savannah Tech’s Peace Officer Academy has a 97% placement rate.     

Each cohort selects a fallen officer for whom the graduating class will be named. The cohorts have a tradition of giving the family of the fallen officer a challenge coin dedicated to the officer. A challenge coin is a symbol of an unbreakable bond of dedication and allegiance among military personnel and law enforcement officers. The challenge coin tradition started as a military tradition in World War I and was later adopted by law enforcement.  

This cohort honors Chief Robert Sellars of the Port Wentworth Police Department. Chief Sellars passed away August 27, 1987, after a short illness. He was survived by his wife Judy and step-son Captain Ashley Brown SCMPD.