Law Enforcement Program Gains New Class

After law enforcement teacher Michael Tatum’s felony traffic stop team won 2nd place in state, he worked to incorporate a new class designed specifically for his team to prepare them for regionals Dec. 9. The new class is 1st period and it’s called correctional services.

“I’ve been a part of the law team since my sophomore year, and we never have been able to have a class, so this year will be a great opportunity for us,” senior Jason Brock said.

During the 2022-2023 school year, team A and team B both went to state, and team B won 2nd place for felony traffic stop. This close call inspired Tatum to talk to his supervisors to create a class for his team.

“I think we could win state in a couple of events and place pretty high in all of them,” Tatum said.

There are a multitude of new people that have joined the team, including junior Loreily Mejia, senior Leif Hays and sophomore Joe Whitely.

“There are also two people on the law team that are not in class because EMT is also 1st period,” Brock said. “There are also like five people in the class that aren’t on the team.”

To start the year, the class went over basics of law enforcement, like handcuffing, pat downs and voice commands. Recently, they went through building searches. Which they practice during the class, and Mondays and Wednesdays after school. Which is put in place to get in extra practice.

“I think it’ll help a lot,” Brock said. “It’s an extra 45 minutes everyday to practice instead of just having like an hour, two days a week.”

This week, the team is practicing a felony traffic stop, which is the event they won 2nd in state last year.

“We’re also going to do stuff about correction services, and go very in depth with each event,” Tatum said.

Multiple members of the team are seniors. This means that at the end of the year, most of the team will graduate.

“I think the law team is my closest group of friends, and I’ve been a part of basketball since freshman year,” Brock said. “But the law team has a comforting sense of family that other teams don’t have. I’m going to miss them.”