Basic Law Enforcement Training program is designed to provide the student with the needed
skills for entry-level law enforcement position in the state of North Carolina. We host a firing
range in cooperation with the Mount Airy Police Department. It's a fully functional firing range,
state-of-the-art turning targets. We have folks that have never shot guns, and we have folks that
has a lot of experience with guns. So we try to bring that individual who's never had that
experience up to their level and get everybody on the same page. For me, the hardest part has
been the physical aspect of the class but as well as firearms or driving where I didn't have much R
experience, the support that my classmates offered me is is definitely something that I'll be taking
with me. We have a classroom at the facility that allows us to set up our virtual reality system,
which assists officers in real-life training exercises. We use this both in Basic Law
Enforcement, and the agencies would use it in their in-service training. It felt like
completely real life, and I think this is a great way to prepare you for the real world.
Your heart was beating and you're full of adrenaline and it looks like real people,
that you're at the real situation. Surry Community College is continually
rated among the top five institutions statewide on the student pass rate.
We had a stretch of seven years in a row that we had a hundred percent pass rate in each and every
Basic Law Enforcement Training program we offered, and similarly, in our radar lidar,
both basic and recert, we have a high passing rate and most of our classes are at a hundred
percent first-time test-taking passing rate. I selected Surry Community College because of the
reputation that they have. I actually didn't do any like researching online or anything. I just
had been telling people that I wanted to go to BLET, but I didn't know where to go. Everyone I
talked to they they more or less said that Surry was the way to go. It's a fast-paced course, but
you'd be surprised how much you can learn in such a short amount of time. I don't think I could have
got all that education and experience in the scenarios and stuff like that anywhere else.
Once the student completes the course here at Surry, then they are required to take a
comprehensive state final exam, and upon passing that successfully, then they're eligible to apply
for certification with the North Carolina Training Standards or North Carolina Sheriff's Commission.
They take time to teach you to the best of their ability and all the training, book work
practicals, everything is all up to date, and so you're not, you know, three or four years behind
everybody once you get out. You know everything's all real up to date, real professional.
I got some great friends now, and the instructors I can always call. They've been very clear that I
can call them and ask them any questions and if they can help me in any way just let them know.
So I feel like I've met a lot and made some new family. To be a law enforcement officer,
it's more to me than a career. It's a lifestyle that not only does it carry the
time period that you're on the job, but your lifestyle is expected to be spotless when you're
off the job. So from that standpoint, the individual coming into this career sacrifices a lot. I've
always felt I was more driven to help people, and I feel like law enforcement is the biggest way I
can do that I feel like it's more of a calling not just a job. I'm very excited to be able to
represent my community and to be able to assist them in a way that other people can't and that's
the really awesome thing about law enforcement is you don't have to be a particular type of person
or fit into a category. You can be of service as you are to somebody out in the community.
Other Training Available: Detention Officer Cert., Telecommunicator Cert., Police Law Institute, RADAR Operator & Recert., LIDAR Operator & Recert., Crisis Intervention,
Taser Initial & Recert., Standard Field Sobriety, Intoxilyzer Operator & Recert, Basic and Advanced SWAT, Surviving the First Three Seconds and Human Behavior Analysis. Go to surry.edu/Law