OTC issues official statement on Law Enforcement Academy closure

Word spread last week that the highly respected Law Enforcement Academy at Ogeechee Technical College will be closing and Monday the college offered a formal statement on the matter.

OTC issued a press release Monday explaining the closure of the Hagan-based policing program as well as the Geographic Information Systems program. Effective June 30, 2017, both will shutter their doors. The college, by rumor, plans to fill the space of the Evans Technical Education Complex with a mechanics program which is currently home to the CDL program as well.

OTC President Lori Durden said in the prepared statement that the Law Enforcement Academy has “operated in the negative” and shows low enrollment numbers. She also said that other providers around the state offer similar training for much less or “for no cost at all” which has made it difficult to compete.

Officially, Durden said,  “This was not a decision made lightly, or reached without considerable thought. It certainly is not something we want to do, but something that we feel we must do to be fiscally responsible for the College.” Durden also thanked those who volunteered with the program over the last seven years. The OTC Academy has relied heavily on former students and volunteer adjunct professors for various aspects of training in recent years.

The Academy is one of six in the state overseen by the Technical College System of Georgia.

You can read what former students have to say about the program here.

You can read the official press release here.