Nevada Department of Public Safety graduates 33 sworn officers

The Nevada Department of Public Safety on Friday swore in 33 new law enforcement officers.

They are graduates of the department’s 73rd Basic Academy. Of the class, 22 will join the Nevada Highway Patrol and 11 to the Division of Parole and Probation.

Joe Reynolds, general counsel to Gov. Brian Sandoval and a former prosecutor, told the group they are entering law enforcement at a time when technological changes are happening. He pointed out soon DPS officers will be wearing body cameras and drones will be joining the tools they have at their disposal.

But he said the core of what will make them successful will still be integrity and ethics.

“Those are the most important things you possess,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds said there are days when he envies carpenters, bakers and other professionals who make something.

“But the criminal justice system also makes something,” Reynolds said. “You make justice.”

And, he told them after their take the oath today, “it will be you who are the face of that system.”

“That means what you do, what you say and how you say it matters,” Reynolds said.

He told the class nothing is worth sacrificing integrity and credibility.

Quoting author C.S. Lewis, Reynolds said “integrity means doing the right thing even when no one is watching.”

DPS Director Jim Wright said this is the first class of new officers this year. Another academy is planned in July and the division’s first Las Vegas academy is set for October.

The Academy is a 15-week course in the skills needed to serve as a DPS law enforcement officer. The training encompasses a wide range of subjects from weapons, driving skills and physical combat to criminal law and how to deal with the public in a variety of situations.

The class began with 38 students.

“Not all who applied were accepted,” said Capt. Dean Buell of the training division. “And not all who were accepted graduated.”

The graduates will fill some of the 93 vacancies in the Department’s sworn staff.

The majority of those vacancies, 50, are in the highway patrol with 33 more in P&P. The remaining 10 are in the Capitol Police Division.

DPS has a total of some 870 sworn staff.