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| Graduation: David in the back row, center (click to enlarge) |
After eight weeks of interactive classes, 38 Santa Barbara County residents graduated on November 12, 2016, from the Sheriff’s Citizen’s Academy. The participants ranged from 18 to 82 years old and included students, business owners, an author, media members, activists and retirees—and our own David Grant of the DSS Systems R&D group.
The Citizen’s Academy is designed to give the public an inside look at law enforcement. “I had been interested in the program for a while,” said David, “and was recruited via my relationship with one of the Deputies. The program reinforced my appreciation for the tough job that our public safety officers do, and how the public can be of assistance.”
For many participants, the most memorable parts of the Academy are the ride-alongs with Deputies, and touring the jail—“great experiences,” David confirmed. Additionally, participants take interactive classes in topics including active shooter training, use of force, search and seizure law, building searches, and arrest and control. Participants also fire a handgun. “Despite many NRA firearms training in the past, I don’t currently own and had not fired an automatic weapon in over 25 years,” said David—but he turned out to be a near-perfect shot and won first place in the academy’s firearms training course.
The program offers the chance to see our community through the lens of law enforcement. “The Academy cadre was very open and talked to us quite frankly. And hearing Sheriff Brown’s presentation on the philosophy of law enforcement and his role was inspiring,” David related. One surprise was just how plugged-in to culture and the media the Sheriff’s Department is. “Officers are very interested in adapting to the cultural changes that take place all around us, and they work very hard to manage their duties within that ever-changing environment in order to keep us safe and protect our rights. Sometimes the public’s view of law enforcement is through the media, which can create public relations situations for law enforcement, and the media perceptions require constant management.”
The program wrapped up with a graduation ceremony and celebratory BBQ attended by family and friends of the graduates, their instructors and past Citizen Academy graduates. At the ceremony, the crowd applauded each graduate as Sheriff Bill Brown and UCSB Police Chief Dustin Olson presented them with their certificate of completion. Memorably, four-legged officers were also in attendance—a K-9 demonstration was part of the festivities.
Organizers plan to hold more Citizens’ Academies in different areas of Santa Barbara County in the near future to allow more people to participate. To find out when the next Citizen’s Academy is, sign up for Nixle alerts at www.sbsheriff.org or follow the Sheriff's Department on Facebook and Twitter. Would our recent DSS graduate recommend the program to others? “Absolutely,” said David, but cautioned “it is popular so it can be hard to get in, and the time commitment is significant so you want to make sure you can complete all the courses, and you must be able to pass all background checks.”
Interestingly, this isn’t David's first rodeo, so to speak. He is also a California-licensed security guard with extensive Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and Incident Command training. The CERT program educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help. CERT members also are encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects in their community. Interested parties can learn more about CERT from the Santa Barbara County Fire Department at www.sbcfire.com/cert/.
Upon completion of further training, David reports that he plans to volunteer, along with John Peca in Systems, to be on-call for activations of the county’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC).