On Nov. 9, students of the Collinsville Area Vocational Center presented two battering rams to the Illinois State Police. The battering rams will be used by officers of the Working Against Violent Elements task force to gain entry into fortified structures when the officers have search warrants.

Students within the precision machining, welding and auto body classes at the vocational center recently teamed up to construct the two custom rams.

W.A.V.E. is a multi-agency task force consisting of investigators from Illinois State Police; Metropolitan Enforcement Group of Southwestern Illinois; East St. Louis Police Department; FBI and ATF.