Becoming an instructor; Deputies attend advanced training

This year members of the Sheriff's Office have attended some great training. Our goal over the last couple of years has been not only to send everyone to needed training, but to also send as many people as possible to instructor schools for various types of training so that we have as many instructors right here at the Sheriff's Office as possible. This will not only help with training expenses, but also make sure we can provide the training whenever it is needed.

For example, every law enforcement officer must have a minimum of 48 hours of continuing education every three years. That 48 hours is broken down to specific areas such as fire arms, which requires four hours. The minimum should never be the standard if it can be helped, and having people that become certified as instructors to teach other law enforcement officers will make it possible to bring the amount of training much higher than the standard.

With several people going to instructor school this year; we now have instructors for Taser, racial profiling, firearms, pursuit/defensive driving, OC-pepper spray, and active shooter training. Most of the instructor classes require deputies to re-certify every so often to maintain an instructor license, and the training requires extensive testing for that field.

Firearms instructor school, for example, requires the candidates to qualify on the same course they will be teaching to other law enforcement officers; but instead of scoring the needed 80 percent or higher to pass, a 100 percent score is required for the instructors. Use of force, firearms, and legal liability training are just a few of the areas I think need much more training time than the minimum.

I have mentioned before a call that deputies responded to where a person had barricaded himself in a camper and refused to come out, but was also making threats toward others and himself. After some time of trying to talk to the person into coming out, he set the camper on fire forcing deputies to go in after him. The only problem was that he also had a knife (which he threw at a deputy missing his head by inches). In some cases this could have easily resulted in deadly force being used to stop someone with a knife, but the deputies had just undergone special training to certify them in the use of several different less lethal weapons, and after using those alternative weapons, the person was safely removed from the burning camper.

Another area that is often overlooked a great deal when it comes to training is the jail. Because there is no licensing for jail staff, there is no state required training and because of this, jail staff, unfortunately, tends to receive very minimal training.

Over the last couple of years, we have continued to update and improve what is called our FTO (field training officer) program and have started implementing the same type of program into the jail. Although we have two certified FTO deputies, it is not very common to have FTO certified jail staff.

This summer we have arranged for some of the jail staff to attend FTO School so the training program can improve in the jail as it has on the road. Although we have a medical contract with a full-time nurse in the jail, we will also be sending our jail sergeant to EMT classes this year so that the jail staff can be even more prepared to respond to emergencies in the jail.

Training is a never-ending task, but we have made a lot of progress in this area and will continue to seek the best and most effective training so that we can provide the best and most effective service to those we serve in Vernon County.