Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources issued the following announcement on Feb. 5
The Basic Training Academy class was busy in January, completing week 17 of their training. They received training in a wide range of subjects including community policing, responding to animal complaints, and GPS usage. They also completed large blocks of instruction in the areas of driver training, crime scene investigation, and traffic law.
The driver training program prepared them to operate patrol vehicles in a variety of conditions and road surfaces. These courses were run using Chevy Tahoes and Ford F-150s. This was the first time many of them have had the opportunity to operate a vehicle at pursuit speeds or navigate orange cones operating in tight turning radiuses.
During the off-road portion of the training, the students received additional training navigating through challenging terrain using their patrol vehicles as well as with ATVs and UTVs.
To build upon their experiences, training staff from the Virginia State Police visited DWR’s academy and presented courses covering motor vehicle law and accident investigation. An exciting part of this training was learning how to control traffic using a whistle and hand signals. The 11th Academy students each had the opportunity to direct traffic at a busy intersection.
The month was topped off with a training block that included several courses related to hunting incident investigation and evidence collection. The students had hands-on training documenting mockups of crime scenes and hunting incident sites. A section of this training covered several types of tree stands and how to use them safely.
Original source can be found here.
