Cop and Gown

Young, cleanshaven men and well-groomed women fidgeted in the aisle of the Oxnard Performing Arts Center on Friday afternoon, each waiting for their name to be called.

This was the culmination of half a year’s work as these 40 cadets became the latest graduation class of the Ventura County Criminal Justice Training Center.

The pats on the back, the shaking of hands, the uniform and tie straightening--it all had the look of restroom-break primping at a high school prom. County dignitaries, including Supervisor Kathy Long who gave the keynote speech, sat waiting on stage, until the line of cadets began its march.

One by one they stepped forward, about seven paces apart, to the uproarious cheers of parents and friends. Whistles, whoops and flashbulbs followed them to their seats. The graduates will be headed for work in one of several law enforcement agencies in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

“There are 40 of you, embarking not on a job, not on a career, but on a calling to public service of the highest order,” Long said.

James Sullivan, 25, is set to work as a deputy in the Ventura

County Sheriff’s Department. He called graduation a relief well worth the wait.

Sullivan was among the 10% of academy applicants who survived the 24 weeks of training and four weeks’ work before the academy. Sullivan reached his career choice at home, growing up in a law enforcement household.

His father, Det. Dan Sullivan, 51, of the Los Angeles Police Department, was on stage Friday to hand his son an academy diploma. The younger Sullivan said he was happy to share the stage with his role model. The glance and handshake exchange made for a special moment, his father said.

“I am very proud of my son following my footsteps into a career in law enforcement,” he said. “In the last few months, I haven’t heard much from him, because he’s been busy, but law enforcement training at all academies is difficult, and that experience alone gives us a common bond.”

Retired Det. Ed Willis, 69, concluded his LAPD career as a sergeant. He too shared the experience of passing on law enforcement to a son. Now that he has graduated, Jim Willis, 25, is headed for work at the Santa Barbara Police Department.

The younger Willis said his interest in police work was born at the holiday dinner table, where his father and uncle would share the embellished war stories of policemen, with a wide-eyed Jim hanging on every word.

“I was like every kid who played cowboys and Indians and always wanted to be a policeman,” he said. “I just stuck with it.”

Ed Willis said he was proud of his son’s career choice, but said he was also glad to know his son would be working in Santa Barbara, a safe distance from the scandals, problems and public anger surrounding the LAPD.

But parents weren’t the only proud ones at the graduation. Ventura County Sheriff’s Senior Deputy Pat Ruby, who helped train the cadets, beamed as he talked about his latest class.

“For me, seeing these people at the beginning, how raw they were, seeing progress, and seeing how much they’ve changed is great,” Ruby said. “You almost feel like a parent.”

About the only tough part of ending a total of 28 weeks of training was saying goodbye to 39 classmates, new friends soon to be scattered to departments around the region, said Catherine Burgess, 24, who starts work soon at the Ventura Police Department.

“These are the only people who will ever understand what we went through, what we’ll go through,” she said. “They are friendships that I’m sure will last a lifetime.”