New Vienna police officers Christopher Garcia, Carrie Armstrong, Jason Carne and Aimal Mayar graduated Dec. 16 from the 79th session of the Fairfax County Criminal Justice Academy.
Their graduation marks the culmination of a six-month training session in which newly hired police recruits received training in all aspects of police procedures.
The basic-recruit session is a non-residential training program consisting of more than 920 hours of instruction. The curriculum includes, but is not limited to, 320 hours of academic studies, 94 hours of firearms training, 84 hours of emergency-vehicle operation, 110 hours of physical training and 130 hours of defensive tactics-training.
The Criminal Justice Academy trains new and veteran officers from Vienna, Herndon and Fairfax County police departments, Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office and Fairfax County Fire Marshal’s Office.
To attend the academy and become a police officer, candidates must go through a rigorous application process that includes a thorough background check, medical examination, polygraph test and various interviews. On average, only 2 percent of people who apply to be a police officer make it through the hiring process and are invited to attend the basic-recruit class, Vienna officials said.
Officers Garcia, Armstrong, Carne and Mayar will be assigned a field -training instructor for the next 12 weeks, during which the instructor will observe and guide their performance in officer safety, traffic enforcement, interaction with the public, report-writing, crime investigations, vehicular accidents and other aspects of law-enforcement duties.