In The Community
Wake Tech Honors Law Enforcement Training Pioneer
RALEIGH, N.C. (August 23, 2013) - Wake Tech leaders today honored Robert “Deke” DeCatsye as the first inductee in the college’s new Criminal Justice Wall of Fame. DeCatsye is well-known and well-respected among law enforcement professionals and agencies throughout the Triangle. He was presented with a commemorative plaque as his name was placed on the wall at Wake Tech’s Public Safety Education Campus.
After receiving numerous awards as a U.S. Air Force investigator, DeCatsye came to Wake Tech – then called Wake Technical Institute – in 1974 to start the Police Science Technology program. He also started the first community college forensics program and laboratory in the state. As Wake Tech grew, DeCatsye became director of Basic Law Enforcement Training for Wake Tech and trained many local officials, including Superior Court Judge Paul Gessner, Cary Police Chief Pat Bazemore and Wake Tech’s Criminal Justice Department Chair Janie Slaughter.
“Without the encouragement from Deke, I and many others would not be where we are today,” said Slaughter. “Deke made you feel that there was nothing that could not be achieved if you believed in yourself. His dedication to law enforcement and the criminal justice system was phenomenal, as his years of service demonstrate.”
DeCatsye shared his expertise, not only with law enforcement agencies in the Triangle but with other higher education institutions as well. He assisted Shaw University in establishing its justice program in the late 1970 and eventually left Wake Tech to start the Justice Studies Program at North Carolina Wesleyan College in Rocky Mount. DeCatsye returned to Wake Tech as an instructor in 1982 and remained until his retirement in 1999. He is still involved in the college, assisting in the design of the new Criminal Justice lab at the Public Safety Education Campus and serving as a member of the Criminal Justice advisory committee. DeCatsye will be the featured speaker at this year’s Basic Law Enforcement graduation in December.
