Lake Michigan College is getting a police academy. The LMC board of Trustees on Tuesday signed off on the creation of a law enforcement associate degree program and a police academy certificate of achievement program. This means local police agencies could have recruits trained close to home rather than sending them to Kalamazoo. Brad Byerly with the LMC criminal justice faculty tells us this has been years in the making, and it has the support of law enforcement.
“I’ve gotten feedback the whole time that we’ve been developing this, and actually I put out a survey in 2022 to local law enforcement agencies in Berrien County, Cass County, and the western half of Van Buren County seeking support for something like this. We got 24 total responses, and all 24 were in support of the development of the academy here.”
The program will be 16 weeks in the summers only. Byerly says that’s so it’s not competing with the Kalamazoo Valley Community College police officer program. It’s hoped local law enforcement officials can be brought in as instructors at LMC. Once all approvals are in and the curriculum is developed, the new program could launch next summer.
