ELEANOR - Students in Putnam County now have the opportunity to get hands-on experience to prepare them for careers in law enforcement and public safety.
More than a dozen students have enrolled in Putnam Career and Technical Center's new law and public safety course, which begins this week as students head back to school.
"Law enforcement is a growing field. More and more of these programs are being started in the state," said Kevin Neal, the program instructor, who has several years of experience as a federal law-enforcement officer. "It's a high-demand field."
Students in the class will learn about constitutional law, public safety, public safety ethics and public safety leadership before entering one of two program tracks. The law and public safety course will allow students to either study forensic science or law enforcement.
This is the first year the school has offered this course.
Neal said students will be able to get hands-on experience using either real or simulated police equipment throughout the school year.
The school has body bags that are commonly used at deadly crime scenes, a police cruiser and a law-enforcement simulator.
Putnam County Sheriff Steve Deweese came to the school Tuesday to donate an "off-line" police cruiser to the school.
Students will have the opportunity to use the 2010 Ford Explorer in mock police scenarios to learn how to properly conduct traffic stops and use police equipment.
"It has basically everything we use, minus the radios," Deweese said. "It's a great opportunity for the county schools."
The cruiser still has most of its police equipment, including working police lights, an in-car camera and a radar device.
The law-enforcement simulator is a two-dimensional interactive screen that will walk students through various situations for them to learn how police officers handle situations, using the tools they have.
Students are able to assess and put themselves in 750 hypothetical situations in the simulator, with levels of force ranging from pepper spray to a firearm.
The goal, Neal said, is to teach students how to use law-enforcement tools, but also how to interact with citizens to avoid the use of any type of force.
"Not only training them on use of force, but it's training them in people skills," he said. "That's a big part of our job."
Students will also discuss current events, "dissecting" police shootings, and officer-involved shootings. Neal said students will be able to look at current events through an officer's perspective, analyzing how to properly handle situations from start to finish.
"What you see on the media is not exactly what happened. They're able to put themselves in the officers shoes, with the tools they have, to see what they would do," Neal said. "A lot of times they'll see a certain clip, and that tells you a different story than the whole thing."
For students who plan to enter the West Virginia State Police Academy after high school, this class will get them "ahead of the curve," Neal said.
While students must still graduate from the academy after completing the course at PCTC, Neal said he believes they'll be better prepared than those who haven't had the opportunity to take a similar class in high school.
"Most people that go through he academy, don't have prior experience, they don't ave this class," he said. "You're going to get exposed to that here - and have a very good understanding of it - before you go to the academy."
Reach Carlee Lammers at carlee.lammers@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1230 or follow @carleelammers on Twitter.