March 15, 2010, 12 a.m. - The Prince George’s County Department of Corrections graduated 23 new Correctional Officers during a ceremony at Florian Hall in Bowie.  The new officers were from the second class of recruits to come through the training academy in 2009.

 

“I am very proud of the men and women of this class,” said Department of Corrections Director Mary Lou McDonough.  “They worked very hard and pushed themselves further than they thought they could go.  We are fortunate to have such a dedicated group of officers coming on board.”

 

Unlike shorter training academies in other jurisdictions across the state, the Prince George’s County Department of Corrections Training Academy lasts for 15 weeks.  During that time, student officers are taught basic correctional management skills, team building, radio codes, principles and dynamics of direct supervision, interpersonal communications, leadership skills and they go through two rounds of security training to become familiar with the correctional facility.

 

“The men and women who graduate today are now part of the Prince George’s County Public Safety Family,” said Public Safety Director Vernon Herron.  “I know that they will carry on the proud tradition of public safety that has been established by those who have come before them.”

 

With the graduation of this class, the county’s Department of Corrections now has 454 sworn correctional officers.

 

Show Place Arena to host CAA 2011 and 2012 championship

 

The Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro has been selected to host the Colonial Athletic Association Women’s Basketball Championship in 2011 and 2012 by the league’s athletic directors.

 

“We are thrilled to be selected as the host for the CAA Women’s Basketball Championships in 2011 and 2012,” said J. Matthew Neitzey, Executive Director of the Prince Georges County, Maryland Conference & Visitors Bureau.  “We have positioned Prince George’s County as ‘Sports Capital USA’ and having the CAA Women here provides further validation that we are a major sports destination.  Our infrastructure of first-class hotels, restaurants, and banquet facilities meshes perfectly with the venue of the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro to present CAA fans and student-athletes an experience they’ll never forget.”

It will be the first time that The Show Place Arena has served as host of the CAA women’s championship. All games in the four-day, 11-game tournament will be played at the 5,000-seat arena, with the winner earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

“The Show Place Arena was selected among several institutions and neutral sites that were interested in the event,” CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager said. “There is tremendous interest in women’s basketball in the Washington, D.C./ Baltimore area and we know that The Show Place Arena will do an outstanding job of hosting our premier women’s championship.”

It will be the first time that the CAA Women’s Basketball Championship has been conducted at a neutral site since 1997 and 1998, when the tournament was held at the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Va.

The CAA women’s basketball championship has been conducted at 10 different campus sites over the league’s 25 years.

The Show Place Arena recently hosted the Patriot League Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships and is currently hosting the 2010 Atlantic 10 Conference Women’s Championship.