Pictured l-r, front row: Dr. Mark Dickens, chaplain, Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office; Tiffany Lawrence; Jaiydah Daniels; Amber Jones and Austin Glenn
Second row: Bernie Taylor, school director, ECC BLET; Cole Stewart; Markel Freeman; Sean Bailey; Tyner Bell; Michael Rawlins and Al Braxton, assistant to school director, ECC BLET

“This is a big day for us,” said Cole Stewart during the graduation ceremony for the 16th Basic Academy for Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) at 91ӣ����Ƶ. “As it says in our code of ethics, our fundamental duty is to serve the community. We have been given an enormous power and responsibility to give our hearts and minds to the people that we serve,” continued the academy’s platoon leader.

Stewart was one of nine who graduated from the academy on Nov. 25. The graduates gathered in the Fleming Building on ECC’s Tarboro campus, surrounded by friends, family and officers from partnering law enforcement agencies who encouraged them throughout their arduous journey.

“We’re so proud of our graduates,” commented Dr. Greg McLeod, ECC president. “We know it was not easy. In fact, this program is one of the hardest, if not the hardest program mentally, physically and also emotionally that you can take at any community college. We’re grateful to you for having chosen us and for having chosen this profession.”

The BLET Academy at ECC prepares students for entry-level employment as a law enforcement officer with state, county or municipal agencies. This preparation includes training in high-risk calls, crisis intervention, as well as tests on tasers, pepper spray and expandable batons. According to Bernie Taylor, BLET school director, cadets commenced the 25-week class on June 9, 2025.

There were “long grueling days, endless hours of studying for tests, physical training rituals that began every morning at 5:15 a.m., and the countless practical scenarios every cadet has to complete,” recalled Taylor.

Thanks to Taylor and 47 instructors on the BLET training staff, all nine cadets passed the state comprehensive certification examination, and all nine have been hired by seven different law enforcement agencies.

The following graduated from ECC’s BLET Academy and have been hired by the law enforcement agencies listed beside their name.

• Sean Bailey, Winterville Police Department
• Tyner Bell, Tarboro Police Department
• Jaiydah Daniels, Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office
• Markel Freeman, Bertie County Sheriff’s Office
• Austin Glenn, Farmville Police Department
• Amber Jones, Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office
• Tiffany Lawrence, Bertie County Sheriff’s Office
• Michael Rawlins, Pitt County Sheriff’s Office
• Cole Stewart, Belhaven Police Department

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Pictured from left to right: Dr. Greg McLeod, ECC president; Greg Sessoms, Tarboro Rotary Club president; Bernie Taylor, BLET school director and Tameka Kenan-Norman, executive director of public information and institutional advancement. Not pictured: Adam Culbertson, Fire and EMS Coordinator.

On behalf of the Tarboro Rotary Club, president Greg Sessoms presented the 91ӣ����Ƶ Foundation with a $4,000 check benefitting ECC’s public safety programs.

“Thank you for being consistently supportive, especially of our BLET and EMS programs,” said Dr. Greg McLeod, ECC president.

Of the $4,000 contributed, $2,000 will be placed in an emergency fund for students in the Basic Law Enforcement Training program. Emergency funds allow the Foundation to provide eligible students with gas cards or other necessities that are essential in order for them to continue their educational pursuits. The remaining $2,000 will go into emergency funds for students in fire/emergency medical services programs.

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Shown with BLET School Director Bernie Taylor (far left) are graduates of 91ӣ����Ƶ’s 14th Basic Academy of Basic Law Enforcement Training.

Twenty-one cadets graduated from 91ӣ����Ƶ’s 14th Basic Academy of Basic Law Enforcement Training on July 2.

The graduation ceremony featured comments by Zami McDuffie, platoon leader of the 14th Basic Academy.

Graduates and their agencies are:

• Dylan Ballard, Goldsboro Police Department
• Emanuel Boyd, Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office
• Payton Brown, Murfreesboro Police Department
• Rylan Carter, Tarboro Police Department
• Ashley Cherry, Bertie County Sheriff’s Office
• Anastasia Clifford, Chowan County Sheriff’s Office
• Cody Cook, Roanoke Rapids Police Department
• Brandon Davis, Bertie County Sheriff’s Office
• Antoine Eaton, Northampton County Sheriff’s Office
• Eric Farthing Jr., Farmville Police Department
• Jeremiah Jenkins, Bertie County Sheriff’s Office
• Montana Jones, Hertford County Sheriff’s Office
• Zami McDuffie, Northampton County Sheriff’s Office
• Isaac Miller IV, Halifax County Sheriff’s Office
• Zachary Perry, Rocky Mount Police Department
• Sidney Pierce, Edenton Police Department
• Demurio Pillmon, Bertie County Sheriff’s Office
• William Plyler II, Roanoke Rapids Police Department
• Jewel Shannon, Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office
• Isaiah Sorto, Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office
• Johnny Williams III, Greene County Sheriff’s Office

All of the graduates are in the process of being hired by the law enforcement agencies.

ECC’s BLET Academy prepares students for entry-level employment as a law enforcement officer with state, county, or municipal governments. The cadets completed an intensive 22-week program and have passed the certification exam mandated by the NC Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission.

The BLET program is unique in that it includes training in high-risk calls; certification in tasers, expandable batons, and pepper spray; and Officer Survival Training. Graduates also receive 18 college credit hours toward an associate degree in criminal justice.

In addition, cadets complete a 40-hour block of Crisis Intervention Team Training, also known as CIT Training. This training teaches the cadets how to de-escalate volatile situations involving individuals in mental crisis or suffering from developmental disabilities.

Upon certification, cadets receive a CIT pin for their uniform. This pin and the training are nationally recognized, especially by the population suffering from developmental disabilities. When individuals see the CIT pin on the officer’s uniform, that alone can help to de-escalate the encounter.

CIT Training is a recent addition to ECC’s BLET curriculum and sets the program apart from other programs.

The college’s next Basic Academy for BLET begins October 3. To learn more, please contact (252) 618-6613 or taylorb@edgecombe.edu.

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91ӣ����Ƶ paramedic students were among the health sciences students who received hands-on training in emergency situations during a recent Mass Casualty Incident simulation training event hosted by the college. ECC partnered with the Rocky Mount Fire Department, Edgecombe County EMS, Nash County EMS, and ECU Health EastCare to conduct the drill.

More than 200 students, instructors, and area emergency medical personnel responded to multiple trauma scenarios through a Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) simulation event held October 21 on the Rocky Mount campus of 91ӣ����Ƶ.

The event was organized and directed by Adam Culbertson, fire and EMS coordinator at ECC. This marked the second MCI training hosted by the college. This year’s event featured more students, more health sciences programs, and more outside agencies. Culbertson said the training “far exceeded” his expectations.

ECC EMS, nursing, radiography, respiratory therapy, and surgical technology programs participated along with the Nash Community College EMT and paramedic programs. Participating agencies were Rocky Mount Fire Department, Edgecombe County EMS, Nash County EMS, and the ECU Health EastCare helicopter.

The day began early with ambulances running calls and patients walking into the simulated hospital environment in the Lamm Building on ECC’s Rocky Mount campus. Lamm Building spaces mimic an emergency room, imaging lab, examination rooms, phlebotomy lab, nursing skills lab, nursing assistant lab, debriefing rooms, and a nurses’ station.

Volunteer patients presented with various medical crises, from strokes and burns to gunshot wounds and bear attacks. More than 50 volunteers from ECC, Edgecombe Early College High School, Edgecombe County Public Schools, and the general public served as patients.

The main event began at 1 p.m. at the Rocky Mount Fire Department training grounds on Atlantic Avenue, a short distance from ECC’s Rocky Mount campus. The scenario involved an overturned school bus that had been T-boned by a car. Firemen and EMTs worked to stabilize both the vehicles and patients.

“This event was a great collaboration between our health sciences programs and outside agencies,” Culbertson says. “The students and instructors rocked. And none of this would have been possible without the outside agencies, who supplied personnel, patients, and equipment. In addition, their insight and wisdom were invaluable to me and our students.”

Nursing student Kaitlyn Evans said the simulation training enabled students to “collaborate with other team members and strengthen critical thinking skills and judgment.” Surgical technology student Ashlyn Bohanon said that the fast-paced trauma scenarios provided an opportunity to sharpen her ability to remain calm under pressure.

Ami Denton, program chair and director of ECC’s nursing program, said, “Being able to work with different disciplines, like EMS, respiratory, and x-ray, is an essential skill for our students. Drills such as this closely mimic what happens in a real healthcare setting, where the ability to communicate and collaborate effectively is critical to successful patient outcomes.”

Culbertson said he is pleased with the outcome of the training event. “It was bigger and better than last year’s, and even better than I hoped it would be for our students, who learned so much. I am grateful to all of the participants.”

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91ӣ����Ƶ health sciences students received hands-on training in emergency situations during a recent Mass Casualty Incident simulation event near the Rocky Mount campus. The college partnered with Edgecombe County EMS, the Rocky Mount Fire Department, and ECU Health EastCare to conduct the drill.

91ӣ����Ƶ paramedic and health sciences students responded to multiple trauma scenarios recently through a Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) simulation event on the Rocky Mount campus.

Students were faced with multiple injuries and other emergency scenarios in the simulated hospital on the second floor of the Lamm Building and in the parking lot of the Rocky Mount Event Center.

Adam Culbertson, fire and EMS coordinator at ECC and organizer of the event for the college, said the primary goal was to “to simulate a Mass Casualty Incident for the health sciences students as well simulation of a high patient load in a short amount of time.”

ECC paramedic, nursing, and radiography programs participated along with the Rocky Mount Fire Department, Edgecombe County EMS, and an ECU Health EastCare helicopter.

According to Nacole Everette, dean of the Division of Health Sciences at ECC, “This event was a voluntary activity for our students. Participation was not required, and we still had 31 nursing students, seven paramedic students, and five radiography students who took part in the training. It was an awesome learning experience for them.”

Similar training is conducted annually for paramedic students, but the MCI simulation event marked the first time that other ECC health sciences programs have participated.

The morning training began at 8 a.m. with individuals who were acting as patients transported to the simulated hospital environment in the Lamm Building, which includes an emergency room, imaging lab, examination rooms, phlebotomy lab, nursing skills lab, nursing assistant lab, debriefing rooms, and a nurses’ station.

Anjanae Counts, an associate degree nursing student, said she learned “how to triage patients by determining which were the most critical. I also learned the language of EMS, which will be helpful in the future.”

The main event began at 1 p.m. in the parking lot of the Rocky Mount Event Center. In the scenario, a car had plowed into a crowd of people attending an outdoor concert. Multiple injuries were reported, including several victims pinned under the car, which had overturned and was on fire.

ECC paramedic student Trakima Casom, who has been working as an EMT for three years, said the realistic drill “helped to prepare us for a real event, which of course we hope never happens.” She added that working with other agencies through the training will strengthen their response in a real emergency situation.

Edgecombe EMS Captain Dalton Barrett agreed. “Working as part of a group effort, that’s the main benefit for all of us.”

Culbertson said he is pleased with the outcome of the training event and is already planning the next simulation. “All of our health sciences students performed exceptionally well with communication between departments and each other. They also did very well in managing patient priorities.”

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Forty students from Edwards and Parker middle schools visited the Rocky Mount campus of 91ӣ����Ƶ on October 4 for the annual Communities in Schools event. Students toured the campus, met with college instructors and staff, and learned about programs in Criminal Justice, Emergency Medical Science, Health Information Technology, Radiography, Respiratory Therapy, and Surgical Technology. Shown is Criminal Justice Department Chair Ryan Cox showing students how to dust for fingerprints.

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Bernie Taylor is director of BLET and law enforcement in-service training at 91ӣ����Ƶ.

During Bernie Taylor’s 30-year law enforcement career in Eastern North Carolina, he endured countless tragedies: seeing the aftermath of horrific traffic accidents, consoling the families who lost loved ones to murder, and witnessing the despair of domestic violence.

In 2015, he turned in his badge in exchange for a clipboard and took over 91ӣ����Ƶ’s law enforcement training program. He’d never been more anxious.

“I had more stress in that first year at the college than I had in my entire career in law enforcement,” Taylor, 57, says. “It was the most stressful time of my life.”

Taylor says he was worried about how his first academy would go, whether he could recruit enough cadets, and “just every little aspect of the job.”

Spoiler alert: He did fine. In fact, Taylor’s 11th BLET academy started in February.

“Once I knew we had enough cadets to begin that first class, it went well,” he says.

Taylor wears several hats at the college. He directs ECC’s law enforcement training, including BLET and speed measuring instrument training, and he also coordinates law enforcement in-service training.

Juggling responsibilities is characteristic of his family. Both of his parents worked – his father in retail, mostly in the shoe business, and his mother in customer service, mostly at banks. “They always worked, so I figured that’s what I would do,” Taylor says.

He started with an after-school job as a custodian at Tarrytown Mall. Then there was a couple of years after high school working morning shifts at McDonald’s and evening shifts at Mr. Dunderbak’s in the mall.

After delivering sandwiches to Rocky Mount-Wilson Airport, he landed a job at Air Care, fueling and preparing planes for flight. But the memories of watching Adam-12 and Emergency! on television as a youngster and interacting with relatives on the force pulled him in another direction. “I was always intrigued by law enforcement,” he explains.

In 1986, he joined the Rocky Mount Police Department. “I immediately loved it. I enjoy helping people, which was our objective every day, and the comradery among officers is special and unique. It’s like a family.”

Six years later, Taylor left the police department to join the Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office. Over the years, he worked as a patrol deputy, drug task force agent, and detective, rising in rank from deputy to lieutenant.

Before he retired in 2014, he was in charge of the training and standards for the sheriff’s office. “That’s what caught the eye of the college,” Taylor says. “When I retired from the sheriff’s office, it was like I walked out of one place and into another to do the same job.”

Though he’s removed from the front lines of law enforcement, he still deals with tragedy. One of his former cadets, Deputy David Manning, was killed in an on-duty traffic crash in 2018.

“I’ve had some close calls of my own, but nothing prepares you for losing someone,” Taylor says. “Here I am, a few years into this new job, and I’m attending the funeral of one of my cadets. It still haunts me.”

Now there’s a new set of cadets – fresh faces in the field of law enforcement. “It may surprise some, but I rarely teach,” he explains. “I teach about 20 hours of the 768 hours of training. I work with 38 instructors, all of whom have different skill sets and experiences to share with our cadets.” Taylor says most of his time is spent directing the academy, planning for the next academy, and coordinating law enforcement training.

Police work is stressful, dangerous, and unpredictable, and Taylor encourages cadets to take time to destress. He and his wife, Melissa, escape to the coast at every opportunity “to relax and let the Vitamin D take care of us,” he says. He has good friends outside of law enforcement, who also help him maintain a healthy work/life balance.

Despite the challenges, after nearly 40 years, Taylor still loves it. “Helping to mold the future of law enforcement, that’s what motivates me. I want to do everything I can to help develop officers who understand the demands of law enforcement and are well prepared to meet them.”

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A renovated classroom is just one of the new areas earmarked for Basic Law Enforcement Training at 91ӣ����Ƶ. The modern facilities include showers, lockers, and a new multipurpose space for training and practical scenarios.

For the past seven years, Bernie Taylor has been running 91ӣ����Ƶ’s Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) program out of one classroom on the Tarboro campus.

That all changed in late 2021 when the academy moved across campus from the Fleming Building to the Havens Building, expanding the program’s facilities to include showers, lockers, and a new multipurpose space for training and practical scenarios.

“We’ve come a long way,” Taylor says.

Taylor, a retired Edgecombe County deputy, took over as school director of the BLET program in 2014. The program quickly outgrew a small classroom in the Fleming Building, and the academy moved to a larger classroom in the same building. “But that’s all we had,” Taylor says.

To conduct training scenarios and administer the academy’s Police Officers Physical Abilities Test, which is required to pass the class, 91ӣ����Ƶ had to rent space at local gyms, churches, and empty buildings.

“By expanding into the Havens Building, we’re saving money,” Taylor explains. “The classroom is in a better location, there’s more office and storage space, and we also have a larger room for physical training and instruction in subject control, baton training, and Taser training.

“In addition, we have shower facilities so we can have physical training in the morning instead of the afternoon.”

Taylor and the cadets in the most recent academy began the move to their new home in October. When the next academy begins in February, the BLET program will be completely established in the Havens Building.

Although 91ӣ����Ƶ’s BLET program already offers more training hours than required by the state, Taylor says the new facilities will enable cadets to receive that training more efficiently.

The minimum state requirement for BLET is 640 hours, and Edgecombe offers a program of 768 hours. The extra hours include more physical training, more training in high-risk calls, and more time for individualized training.

“We’ve also brought shotgun training back to the academy,” Taylor says. “Toward the end of the academy, we provide training in expandable baton techniques, pepper spray, and Taser.

“Law enforcement agencies will often send out their new hires to get that training. But when cadets complete our academy, they are skilled in all of these areas and won’t need more training.”

BLET graduates also receive 18 college credit hours toward an associate degree in criminal justice.

“The new facilities are great,” Taylor adds. “We’re in our new location, and we can pass so many more opportunities on to our cadets.”

The college’s next Basic Academy for BLET begins February 14. To learn more, please contact taylorb@edgecombe.edu or (252) 618-6613.

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91ӣ����Ƶ Emergency Medical Services personnel Adam Culbertson (left) and John Wilson are shown with the College’s new ambulance for EMT and paramedic training. “We have the best of both worlds in simulation training,” says Wilson, coordinator of EMS and fire services training at ECC. “We offer first-rate instruction in a brick and mortar facility with the Lamm Building, and now we have advanced training on wheels.”

The shift to remote learning due to the coronavirus pandemic has profoundly impacted teaching and learning nationwide. Prior to the pandemic, the shift had already begun at 91ӣ����Ƶ, which has been adding online programs and classes in recent years.

This year, hybrid course delivery that combines online study with hands-on learning has emerged as an effective teaching strategy, especially in healthcare programs. Nowhere is this more evident than in Emergency Medical Services.

“EMS courses in general have been heading down the hybrid track,” says John Wilson, coordinator of EMS and fire services training at the College. “What COVID-19 did was speed up that timeline.”

Wilson, a paramedic for the past 26 years, says ECC offers flexible options to complete EMT and paramedic coursework, including online and in-person evening classes.

Adam Culbertson, a paramedic and EMS specialist at the College, says that in some ways, the pandemic has pressed 91ӣ����Ƶ to move forward.

“We lagged a little behind in technology in setting up classes,” he says. “But now we are creating virtual sessions. So, in that sense, we have strengthened our program and attracted new students over the past six months.”

The College’s EMS program serves agencies across North Carolina. Annually, ECC trains about 45 EMT, AEMT, and paramedic students. An additional 150 students complete various other courses offered through the EMS program.

Social distancing and mask requirements have created new protocols for these students. A temperature check is mandatory before faculty and students can enter a campus facility to attend hands-on labs.

EMS labs typically involve lots of close contact. Because classes are repeated multiple times during the week, the number of students is usually small enough to accommodate social distancing, Culbertson says.

91ӣ����Ƶ EMS and paramedic students are taught by a team of about 35 part-time instructors, all of whom work in the field and share lessons learned on the front lines.

Instructor David High says masks have weakened communication between EMTs and patients. “It’s difficult to hear some individuals while they’re masked, and it’s impossible to analyze facial expressions,” he says.

“Wearing a mask takes a lot of our personality out of the equation,” High continues. “We’re going into someone’s home at possibly the worst moment of his or her life, and we need to be able to offer some type of comfort, whether it’s to provide medical treatment or to ease their tension with a smile. I try to connect with my patients, but with a mask, it’s a challenge.”

Emergency calls dropped at the onset of the pandemic, but have since surged. “From March through April, our call volume dropped through the floor. But now, the call volume has gone up, higher than it’s ever been,” Wilson explains. “And I think we are now in a world where we are going to wear a mask on every call. That will never go away.”

Culbertson says that most paramedics and EMTs presume that patients are COVID-positive until proven otherwise. Now, just one emergency worker enters a home wearing a gown and mask to assess a patient, limiting exposure.

For EMTs and paramedics, disinfecting themselves and ambulances has always been a priority. Today, ambulance crews are even more diligent in ensuring that everything is sanitized.

“We disinfect our trucks on a regular basis,” Culbertson says. “But if we transport a potential or known COVID patient, the ambulance will go out of service for a couple of hours so we can spray down the entire inside. Our personnel also bring extra uniforms and shower before answering more calls.”

When an ambulance is out of service for COVID cleaning, back-up trucks and mutual aid ambulances from other districts and counties will cover that area until the original truck is back in service.

“This is new for everybody,” Culbertson adds. “We’re going to continue to learn a lot of lessons. EMS is a stressful environment, and it takes a toll.

“But the biggest thing is that we don’t consider ourselves heroes. When we signed up to work in EMS, we knew this day might come.”

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