URBANA, Ill. – Campus community members at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will soon see Officer Valerie Marcotte around after her graduation from the University of Illinois Police Training Institute on Thursday.

Officer Marcotte will spend the next few months in field training, during which time she will be paired with training officers who will help to further refine her skills and abilities.

Prior to UIPD, Marcotte most recently worked as a certified nursing assistant at Carle Foundation Hospital, where she was a member of the high-risk obstetrics unit. She holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Olivet Nazarene University.

Police Chief Alice Cary delivered remarks during Thursday’s PTI graduation ceremony and challenged the recruits to be trendsetters and leaders in answering the calls for change from their communities.

“You build trust by listening and understanding. By not making assumptions about people. By remembering that good people do fall on hard times,” Cary told the graduates. “You build legitimacy by demonstrating that you are responsive to the ever-changing needs of the community you swore to protect. By demonstrating that times do change, and people change too.”