Newest deputy graduates from basic law enforcement academy

Published 12:01 am Sunday, September 16, 2012

BURIEN — Clallam County Sheriff’s Deputy Joseph Pursley has graduated from the Washington State Basic Law Enforcement Academy and now is under going field training before being assigned to the West End.

Pursley was one of 28 other law enforcement officers in Class No. 683 who began training May 1 in the Washington State Basic Law Enforcement Academy’s 720-hour curriculum.

They graduated during a recent ceremony at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission in Burien.

Pursley now begins a 14-week, 560-hour field training officer program under the supervision of specially trained field training officers selected from within the Clallam County Sheriff’s Department, said Sheriff Bill Benedict.

Following his successful completion of that program, Pursley will be assigned to the Sheriff’s West End detachments, Benedict said.

Pursley served as the associate pastor of the Forks Assembly of God Church and as a volunteer chaplain for the Clallam County Sheriff’s Department prior to his hiring as a deputy.

A 1998 Port Angeles High School and 2011 Peninsula College graduate, he lives in Forks with his wife, Amber, and two young sons.