Last modified: Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Newest officer for IU Police Department in Bloomington honored at state academy
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 17, 2012
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Curtis "Jake" Cole, a decorated war veteran and the newest officer on the Indiana University Police Department in Bloomington, is the recipient of the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy's Herman H. Freed Award.
Curtis "Jake" Cole
The honor, voted on by peers, is presented to one student in each graduating class who demonstrates the qualities of "integrity, loyalty, ethics and attitude." Cole graduated from the academy, where he served as squad leader, on April 13 and begins his patrol duties April 17.
"We are proud of Officer Cole's accomplishments while at the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy," said Keith Cash, chief of police for the IUPD. "Officer Cole has served his country with three tours of duty in Iraq and demonstrates great leadership ability. He will soon finish his degree at IU as he joins the full-time ranks of our uniformed officers. He makes an outstanding addition to our police department."
Cole joined the U.S. Marines in 2001 just before graduating from West Washington High School in Campbellsburg, Ind. As a member of the Marine reserves, he served three tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, holding leadership roles each time. Some of his responsibilities included establishing Internet and telephone lines; traveling with convoys in order to jam radio signals used by insurgents to detonate bombs; and providing perimeter security in Afghanistan during the construction of a base.
Cole earned an associate degree in criminal justice from Ivy Tech Community College in Bloomington, during which time he also worked as a correctional officer for the Owen County Sheriff's Department. He is near completion of a bachelor's degree from IU Bloomington, where he met his wife, Kacie.
"I moved to Bloomington to attend IU because of the history and traditions of the campus," Cole said. "I hadn't planned on staying, but once here I really couldn't see myself living anywhere else."
Cole received numerous awards for his military service, which he completed after serving as the company gunnery sergeant for Detachment Communications Company, Headquarters Battalion, 4th Marine Division, in Indianapolis.
He received a Combat Action Ribbon twice, the Presidential Unit Citation, the Navy Unit Citation, the Iraq Campaign Medal twice, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Armed Forces Reserve Medal three times, the Sea Service Deployment Medal three times, the Good Conduct Medal three times and the National Defense Ribbon.
