Training

We don’t just attempt to achieve accreditation; we have practiced it since 1998.  We will maintain those elevated standards, and while we do so, I am open to innovative ways to keep a positive, forward motion in our tasks, duties and functions; Therefore, I cannot be the end-all when it comes to ideas about progress.  My door will also be open to suggestions from our faithful and talented staff, and I am looking forward to recognizing those who do so!  I expect a call to shrink budgets, due to the effects that the pandemic is having on local economies. Training, however, cannot take a back seat.  Tragedies can be the result of ill-trained officers.  We have kept up with training and kept ahead of "world issues" because of it.  I have always advocated for advanced training, and will maintain that. I will use a collective approach to keep the needs of the public met.  Here are a few of my initiatives:

• I always have, and always will, embrace new technology to keep public safety up-to-date. Those with bad intentions are using technology on a daily basis, and we must be as well equipped to discover the means by which they execute those intentions.  Technological systems require training to acquire and maintain.  
  
  
• We must develop a computer forensic investigations team to discover the clues that ill-doers leave behind when using technology for their deeds.  Nearly every crime, or attempted crime, has an electronic footprint that is left behind.  Society demands that those footprints be found, whether they are contained in cell phones, computers, or other electronic devices that are employed for criminal use.  Computer forensic investigations is the collection, analysis and preservation of the data found in computer systems in order to present that information as evidence in criminal cases.  With call volume in criminal cases within our community on the rise, it is imperative that we keep up with those who use computer systems.  I have contacts within our Law Enforcement partners who will provide the best training in this field, and the best equipment available, at no cost to our taxpayers.  
  
  
• No matter what public safety division our employees serve, they are required to maintain their certifications through extensive training and ongoing learning.  While there are many annual trainings that members of the Sheriff's Office must partake in, additional training addresses current issues in public safety, such as mental health first aid, implicit bias , de-escalation & communication, and cultural diversity.  I am proud to say that we have already completed that training.  We will maintain those important trainings within our agency, as they are as important to us as they are to those that we serve, you!