BACK STORY ENCORE
Victor Ledbetter
Director, KVCC Law Enforcement Training Center V
ictor Ledbetter was going to be a lawyer. The Hamlet, North Carolina, native studied prelaw at North Carolina Central University and worked at IBM while waiting to go to law school. But when he was laid off and a placement agency asked if he wanted to become a police officer in Kalamazoo, his first thought was “Where?” Then, “Hmm, that'd be great experience learning how police operate, so when I become a defense attorney, I can just be exceptional,” he recalls. Ledbetter never became a lawyer. He found that being a cop was his calling. “The thing that struck me the most,” he says, “was you come across people and can make their lives better and do something for the better. It sounds like a cliché, but truly, when you give your life to service for others, there is nothing more rewarding.” Ledbetter, 52, is now training future police officers as the director of the Law Enforcement
Brian Powers
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