Kirkuk Police Academy graduates 1,325

KIRKUK, Iraq, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- The Kirkuk Police Academy in northeastern Iraq graduated 1,325 Iraqi Police recruits in a ceremony attended by several provincial leaders.

The graduates marched in procession for a pass-in-review for senior officials with the Iraq Army, Emergency Services and Police Force as well as officials with the Ministry of Defense and Interior Ministry, the U.S. Army News Service said.

The new graduating class is the ninth to graduate from the Kirkuk Police Academy. The program mandates 400 hours of training to be completed in as little as nine weeks as required by the Ministry of Interior.

Classes focus on basic law enforcement and military tactics as well as human rights lectures and the diffusing of improvised explosive devices.

The provincial director of police, Gen. Jamal Thaker Baker, addressed the new class commending them on their heroic patriotism.

"You are graduating from one of the best training centers in the country," he said. "You are heroes. You will now join your brothers in the Iraqi Police to keep the security and stability of our province."