All Pawtucket All The Time

CRANSTON, R.I. – January 28, 2009 – Jason L. Goncalves of East Providence was one of 54 men and women to graduate with the Rhode Island Department of Corrections’ Correctional Officer Training Academy Class 77 on Friday, January 16th, at 2 p.m. at Rhode Island College’s Sapinsley Hall. He was also the recipient of the Firearms Award. There were 13 women and 15 minorities in the graduating class.

More than 300 family and friends attended the ceremony where RI Attorney General Patrick Lynch was the invited keynote speaker. Corrections Director A.T. Wall also spoke, commending the graduates for making it to this point, noting that 2,240 people applied during the recruitment period. He noted, “This is not a job for the weak of character or those who don’t know how to follow policy and use good judgment.”

During the arduous nine-week schedule, participants undergo physical fitness and weapons training and have classroom instruction in defensive tactics, communication skills, and the law as it relates to correctional officers. The Sunday following graduation, 21 members of the new class of correctional officers began by shadowing more senior officers for a two-week period, after which they were assigned to posts in one of the prisons. The remaining graduates will be called up as officers retire and are expected to be working by the end of the year.