Students graduate from South Dakota telecommunicator course

PIERRE Twenty-four students graduated Friday from the state Basic Telecommunicator Certification Course.

Graduation completes the two-week course for the students who represent 16 different law enforcement or communication centers statewide. The course includes training and hands-on exercises on issues such as public safety telecommunications, how to respond to questions from the caller, how to handle both emergency and non-emergency calls for service, and how to prioritize multiple incidents happening at one time.

Members of the 77th session of the Basic Telecommunicator Certification Course and their law enforcement organization are:

Rebecca Alexander, Central South Dakota Communications.

Kimberly Andrades-Zamora, Metro Communications.

Chaundra Barron, Metro Communications.

Dylan Bartram, Central South Dakota Communications.

Hannah Bates, Moody County Sheriffs Office.

Amber Benway, Clay Area Emergency Communications.

Chloe DePew, Pennington County Emergency Services Communication Center.

Janita Holt-Yellow, Fall River County Sheriffs Office.

Kayleene Holzer, Brown County Communications.

Maria Homola, Meade County Sheriffs Office.

Izabel Johnson, Spearfish Police Department.

Jason Kraft, Spink County Sheriffs Office.

Chel Larsen, Charles Mix County Sheriffs Office.

Julie Lightbourn, Miner County Sheriffs Office.

Kortni Nester, Metro Communications.

Amanda Perez, Mobridge Police Department.

Asa Pettigrew, Brown County Communications.

Cheyenne Pullman, Meade County Sheriffs Office.

Camilla Searby, Rosebud Police Department.

Ethan Shelsta, Watertown Police Department.

Haylee Waldrop, Pennington County Emergency Services Communication Center.

Hunter West, Metro Communications.

John Yeary, Winner Police Department.

Jamie Zimmerman, Metro Communications.