As soon as he graduated Southwestern Community College’s Basic Law Enforcement Training program, Dustin Wright had a job waiting for him at the Eastern Band of Cherokee Police Department. Cherokee Police Chief Ben Reed, a 1996 Southwestern graduate, said he hired SCC graduates because he knew firsthand that their training had been thorough and rigorous. SCC trains 95 percent of law enforcement officers in Jackson, Macon, Swain, Clay, Cherokee and Graham counties. “I felt well prepared for the job,” said Dustin. “The physical conditioning was challenging. Some called it rough, but I prefer to call it challenging.” The course work was equally challenging, Dustin found, and he appreciated “the attention to detail, as well the vast experience of the instructors.” He attributes SCC’s BLET program with “helping me get my foot in the door with this job.”