Nineteen students from the Savannah Technical College Peace Officer Academy celebrated graduating from the program with a completion ceremony.

The four women and 15 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 18th group of students to complete the program since its inception in 2009. To date, the program has graduated 253 P.O.S.T.-certified officers. Many candidates are in various stages of the application process with statewide agencies. 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 selected to honor Corporal Richard Allen Hall Jr., of the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office who lost his life in the line of duty on September 16, 2015 after a motor vehicle accident. He is survived by his father and stepmother, John and Clisty Hall, one brother Steven (Christy) and sister Jennifer (Michael) and family.

Hall, was a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. and a 14-year member of the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office.