Signs of Life: Miller Campus

Parts of Salt Lake Community College are slowly beginning to reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic, ushering in a "new normal" in a community that normally thrives on unfettered access to the environment and resources that make SLCC one of the top community colleges in the nation. Signs of Life is a series that shines a light on stops along the long road back to normal operations.

 

As Jared Heywood sits in a classroom, dressed in a crisp uniform shirt while listening to an instructor, a masked John Clark is sweating on a mat during a defensive tactics lab down the hall, reacting in a split second to break the hold of a fellow student, also wearing a mask, during a simulation.

 

Jared and John are among a new batch of Law Enforcement Academy cadets being trained at the Public Safety Education & Training Center (PSET) on Salt Lake Community College’s Miller Campus. Coursework is divided into Special Function Officer (SFO) and Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) modules. Combined, the three-month blocks comprise the training it will take for students to receive their Law Enforcement Officer certification. This group, however, is having a slightly different experience these days than their predecessors.

 

The current global pandemic postponed training when college campuses everywhere moved to remote learning. Loosened restrictions recently by the state meant colleges could start to reopen for summer courses with certain conditions. Now face coverings are required for indoor training or when students are in the halls or bathrooms at the PSET building. Mats used in the defensive tactics lab are cleaned after each use. There is hand washing during breaks. Desks are wiped down after use. Hand sanitizer and wipes are omnipresent. This is life during law enforcement training at SLCC in a pandemic.

 

“We’re trying to be as safe as possible,” says Rich Montanez, coordinator for the Academy. Temperatures are taken each day. If a student or faculty member is sick or even if someone in their family shows symptoms of having COVID-19, they’re told to stay home.

 

Jared, 25, sells real estate in Kaysville, but wants to do that on the side once he becomes a police officer. “I just want to help other people,” he says. “I wanted an honorable career.” John, 37, is already a successful business owner in Utah County and won’t be changing jobs once he graduates. “This is kind of a hobby,” says the married father of four. “I’ve always been attracted to either firefighting or law enforcement.” John plans on volunteering one day a week with smaller departments along the Wasatch Front once he is certified.

 

John Clark

This summer, there are about 20 students in the SFO module and 14 in the LEO group, with six instructors handling the load. Those numbers, considered a bit low, reflect what life was like just a few months ago when the economy in Utah was better. The pandemic quickly changed that, with unemployment rates not seen in most states since the Great Depression. “The phones are ringing off the hook for fall classes,” Rich says, “now that the economy is in the tank.”

 

One other unseen change this summer in the PSET building that can instead be heard are the discussions surrounding current issues of race and police conduct. Instructors and students tackle hard topics incident by incident. “We look at what could have been done better,” Rich says. “We don’t use that technique that was used in Minnesota. We talk about that stuff.”