New officers complete academy
By MAX PORTER World Staff Writer
7/28/2007
Becoming a police officer requires sacrifice, but Kelli Braitsch gave up something that most people can only dream of when she decided to join the Tulsa Police Training Academy. 
Braitsch turned down a chance to play for the U.S. Olympic softball team to join the Tulsa police force.
"I was selected not only to do that, but also to do some pro ball stuff," Braitsch said Friday.
After 25 weeks of training, the almost-Olympian -- along with 18 other apprentice police officers and one assistant fire investigator -- graduated from the police academy Friday.
Braitsch, who said she had wanted to be a police officer since she was very young, views her decision as a smart career move.
"I decided that my (police) career would take me much further than softball," she said.
"You can only play for so long."
Braitsch was recruited for the Olympic team while playing softball for the University of Oklahoma, where she was named Big 12 player of the year in 2001.
She says her time as a college softball player helped prepare her for police training.
The academy "was very similar to my experience at OU," she said.
"They both play a mental game, but here you're dealing with the public at their best and worst, whereas in softball you're only dealing with the pitcher at their best and worst."
Braitsch broke four rookie records during her training at the police academy, earning the nickname "Superstar."
Others from her academy class have served in the Marine Corps, Navy and Army Reserves.
One graduate is a former Tulsa Public Schools teacher.
The apprentice police officers reportedly received more than 900 hours of instruction in law, firearms, defensive tactics, driving, report writing and officer survival since they began training in February.
Among other things, they scaled walls, learned high-speed driving maneuvers and were doused with pepper spray.
They will now work for 16 weeks alongside field training officers in each of the Tulsa Police Department's three patrol divisions.
After that time, the graduates will become full-fledged Tulsa police officers.
Friday's ceremony was attended by graduates' friends and family members, as well as several notable Tulsa figures.
One was Mayor Kathy Taylor, who offered some words of encouragement to the new officers.
"A life of service is a life of significance," she said.
On the beat
Apprentice police officers who graduated Friday from Tulsa Police Training Academy:
Ian Samuel Adair
Jeremy R. Ballard
Jason Mark Bell
Kelli W. Braitsch
Adam S. Dawson
Scott C. Good
Adam Jordan James
Jacob Keith Johnston
Jaime Danielle Kirby
Gary J. Koenig
Kristopher Michael Kolar
Patrick Jay McLean
Tiffany Diane Sappington
Christopher Korey Scott
Jennifer Marie Tate
David Russell Thompson
Sarah Atchley Toliver
Basil Valkanas
Wesley Alan Yost
Jimmy Worley, an assistant investigator for the Tulsa Fire Department, also graduated from the academy.
By MAX PORTER World Staff Writer
Max Porter 581-8300
Copyright Tulsa World 2007. Format differs from original publication.
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