Milwaukee Area Technical College Hosts Graduation Ceremony for New Correctional Officers

On Friday, April 5, 37 men and women will graduate from the Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) Jailer Training Academy, presented in partnership with the Milwaukee County Community Reintegration Center (CRC), formerly known as the House of Correction.

These new correctional officers will work at the CRC, and other correctional facilities throughout Southeastern Wisconsin, to build safer communities, improve post-release outcomes, and help residents become economically and socially successful. The graduates were trained at MATC’s Jailer Academy located within the CRC at 8885 S. 68th Street in Franklin.

Lenard Simpson, Education Director of the Re-Entry Populations at Wisconsin Technical College System, will serve as the keynote speaker. Lenard holds a deep understanding of the challenges faced by justice-involved populations and has a strong belief in their potential for growth and change.

The graduates successfully completed 5 weeks (200 hours) of intensive training and testing as mandated by the State for new Correctional Officers. The course consists of 20 major units of instruction:  Academy Orientation; Admit and Release Inmates; Correctional Law; Jail Health Care; Introduction to Corrections; Jail Officer Wellness; Maintain Jail Security:  Jail Security techniques; Professional Communication Skills; Principles of Subject Control (POSC); Prepare Reports; CPR (Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation)-w/AED; Ethics and Ethical Decision Making; Fire Safety; Inmate Supervision and Behavior Control; Investigations; Suicide Prevention; Supervision of Special Needs Inmate/Crisis Intervention; Respecting Cultural Diversity.

Members of this class are all currently employed as Officers at the following agencies:  Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office; Milwaukee County Community Reintegration Center; Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office; Racine County Sheriff’s Office; Washington County Sheriff’s Office and Waukesha County Sheriff’s Office.
The CRC is aimed at promoting successful community reintegration by comprehensively meeting the needs of residents in the facility’s care by providing programming and resources that support opportunities for positive change. A top priority for the CRC is recruiting and retaining new correctional officers to work at the facility.

The average CRC resident is released after 100 days, demonstrating how the CRC is using time before release to help individuals change behavior and reduce recidivism. While jailer class graduates must be physically fit, the class also spends time emphasizing the importance of mental health support and suicide prevention efforts.

MATC has the State’s longest running Police Academy, and the Jailer Training Academy was the first of its kind in the state that partnered with a correctional institution to conduct the training, with the vast majority of the instructors currently serving in the correctional field full-time. Overwhelmingly, MATC graduates build careers and businesses in southeastern Wisconsin.

GRADUATION DETAILS

WHAT:           37 men and women graduating from Jailer Training Academy

Keynote by Lenard Simpson, Education Director of the Re-Entry Populations at Wisconsin Technical College System

WHEN:          Friday, April 5, 2024, 10:30 a.m.

WHERE:        MATC Downtown Milwaukee Campus, M Building, Room M605,

1015 N. Sixth Street, Milwaukee

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.