Clarksville, TN – On September 14th, 2023, the Clarksville Police Department (CPD) had seventeen officers graduate from the nine-week Walters State Regional Law Enforcement Training Academy.
During their training at Walters State, several officers with CPD distinguished themselves and received honors for their achievements.
Officer Terry Blackburn was the Class President for Class 129 and the David Purkey Leadership Award recipient for having demonstrated outstanding leadership skills during the academy.
Officer Joseph Turk received the Academic Achievement Award. This award is given to the cadet with the highest grade point average throughout the academy. Twelve tests are administered during the academy, covering all aspects of their learning. Officer Joseph Turk had an overall GPA of above 98.74%.
Officer Shawn King received the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police Award (TACP) for Outstanding Officer. This award is voted on by the academy instructors and is given to a cadet who works for a police department and has shown outstanding abilities in all areas of the academy.
Officer Corey Reeves received the Best Athlete Award. This award is presented to the cadet who has performed highly on all five physical tests given by the academy (1.5-mile run, 300m sprint, Max push-ups in 1 min, Max sit-ups in 1 min, and the Obstacle Course).
*Officer Corey Reeves set a new men’s academy record for doing 93 sit-ups in one minute. Officer Shawn King set a new men’s academy record by completing 122 push-ups in one minute, Officer Samantha Mazula set a new women’s record on the 300m sprint with a time of 50 seconds and Officer Jordan Marress tied the record for women’s sit-ups (70 in one minute).
The recently graduated officers will complete their post-academy in-house training before hitting the streets with their field training officers (FTOs). The FTO program consists of three phases for a total of fourteen weeks. After successful completion of the FTO program, they will be assigned a patrol shift.
