HAMILTON: Township residents among county academy grads

Mercer County dignitaries and law enforcement officials from around the county gathered today to celebrate the graduation on March 21.

WEST WINDSOR — Four township residents were among 30 cadets who graduated from the fifth class of corrections officers from the Mercer Police Academy.
   Mercer County dignitaries and law enforcement officials from around the county gathered today to celebrate the graduation on March 21.
   Graduating where Hamilton residents Gregory Danley, Nicholas Mauro, Nicholas Nicolini and Jowana Phillips. All will serve the Mercer County Corrections Department.
   An audience of hundreds of family members, friends, and members of a number of law enforcement agencies witnessed the impressive class each receive graduation certificates to officially make them corrections officers.
   The commencement was held inside Kelsey Theatre at Mercer County Community College and featured the cadets proudly wearing the uniforms of the county corrections departments they will join, which include Mercer, Middlesex, Camden, Burlington and Warren.
   The graduates endured 10 weeks of training at the academy in all aspects of law enforcement. The cadets are the fifth corrections class of the academy, which was created in January 2007 and provides a facility and resources to train law enforcement recruits within Mercer County.
   The academy is located on the grounds of Mercer County Community College.
   During training, the class studied in disciplines such as use of force, firearms and hostage negotiation, among others.
   The Mercer Police Academy consists of two classrooms specially designed for the needs of law enforcement training, and recruits use MCCC grounds, its library and its gymnasium for training purposes. The campus includes a padded training room that is used for “defensive tactics” classes. A shooting range in Hopewell Township operated by the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office is part of the Academy as well.
   The academy is open to both Mercer County and non-County residents, and many recruits utilize “alternate route” status, in which the recruit pays his or her own way for training.