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COTA Celebrates 20th Anniversary

 
COTA Commander Jim Branch looks on as Director Dora Schriro hands Lt. Vicki Wortman her 20-year pin. Wortman and CO III Michael Reynolds (left) graduated from the first-ever COTA class in 1986.  

Twenty-three years ago, Jim Branch walked into Central Unit with only the basic knowledge of being a Correctional Officer. During his first week, Branch recalls his sergeant telling him, ‘Here are your keys, handcuffs and radio, go shower the 14 inmates who are in Cell Block Four. Oh yeah, and you will have to do it yourself, we’re short staffed today.’

The nervous, 23-year-old walked up to the first cell shaking like a leaf.  Trying to unlock the cell’s food trap, he fumbled through the keys. To help out the rookie officer, the inmate in the cell yelled, ‘CO, I know you’re new but it’s the 3AAF key.”

Branch handcuffed the inmate, like he was trained to do, and then showered the next four. He then came to another door, and again he fumbled with his keys. Another inmate saw him floundering and said, ‘CO, It’s the four something, something key.’

He found the key, and so began his life as a Correctional Officer in the Arizona Department of Corrections.

Branch, now the commander of the Correctional Officer Training Academy, was trained at the Arizona State Prison Complex-Florence’s pre-service academy. He was trained at a time when the pre-service preparation was conducted in respective prisons. Each prison had its own curriculum and training methods, lacking uniformity and consistency.

According to Branch, some staff were given radios and keys and went to work the same day they were hired; while others attended a six-week formal academy. Branch was one of the new officers who had some formal training.

“After six weeks of training, I came out with just the basic knowledge of being a Correctional Officer. Boy, we do a lot more today. The Department has come a long way in preparing its new officers since the days of asking an inmate how to do your job.”

Through the years, the role of a Correctional Officer has greatly evolved, and so has the training. In 1986, ADC established COTA, the agency’s in-service and pre-service training academy. COTA is set on 43 acres in the picturesque hills of Tucson. In twenty years, 20,000 cadets and 743 classes have graduated COTA.

“I’m excited about our progress over the past 20 years, our success comes from the dedicated staff members of this flagship agency who take pride in their work and who are dedicated in developing officers and other corrections professionals,” Branch said. “Despite the increasing and ever-changing demands and expectations laid on us, we continue to embrace change and innovation.” 

Today, all cadets receive the same uniform training. ADC’s curriculum, which is Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board certified, encompasses a ten-week academy that includes 64 different blocks of instruction and practical application. Cadets participate in nine weeks of training at the academy and one week of field training at their respective facility. Also, new officers receive 21 college credits from Rio Salado Community College, which cadets may use to further their education.    

“Here at COTA, we create and cultivate a culture of excellence.  Our exceptional administrators, and extraordinary staff exemplify the qualities to which all of us aspire as the state’s flagship of correctional professionals,” Director Dora Schriro said. “All of our COTA staff are a team of leaders helping us to grow into a greater group of leaders at every complex and other work locations around the department.”

On January 26th, ADC celebrated the 20th anniversary of COTA with a dedication ceremony. ADC brought back cadets from COTA’s first graduating class, Lt. Vicki Wortman and CO III Michael Reynolds. The director presented the two officers with their 20-year pin. Original members of COTA’s training staff, Warden Mary Hennessey and Training Officer Shirley McGhee, and former COTA commanders Glen Davis, Tom Hammarstrom, Sandra Walker and John Hallahan were in attendance. Also in attendance was COTA Facility Coordinator Christina Leon-Benitez. She has been working at COTA from the start.

Director Schriro, Commander Branch and former commander and current Arizona Post Director Tom Hammarstrom spoke at the ceremony. Following the speeches, Commander Branch and Director Schriro unveiled a flagstone monument, hand-carved by inmates from ASPC-Winslow, honoring the corrections professionals of ADC who have made COTA one of the finest correctional training facilities in the country.

 COTA Facts and Highlights

  • COTA was originally built in 1964 as a residential school for asthmatic children from the Midwest and East Coast. It later became a school for wayward boys.

  • In November of 1980, the Department of Public Safety and the Arizona Law Enforcement Advisory Council, now know as the Peace Officer Standards and Training Board, purchased the 43-acre facility.

  • The first COTA class began in conjunction with the Arizona Law Enforcement Training Academy in January of 1986. In 1996, ALETA moved its operations to Phoenix, leaving ADC as the sole occupants.

  • COTA provides training to other law enforcement agencies and numerous in-service training academies to better prepare future ADC leaders.  

  • In 2002, COTA converted dorm rooms into 32 hotel-style lodging rooms. The project has saved the Department approximately $1.5 million in state travel money.

  • There have been seven COTA commanders in its history – Jerry Wentzel, Carl Tucker, Glen Davis, Tom Hammarstrom, Sandra Walker, John Hallahan and Jim Branch.

 

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