Staff photo.
Shelby County Sheriff’s Office patrol vehicle.
Since last month’s column, I’ve completed half of my Citizen’s Sheriff’s Academy course.
My fellow classmates and I have already learned a lot. Here’s a recap of my first three classes, plus a fun outside-of-class experience we got to participate in.
Class 1: Introductions and Office Organization
I was so excited about my first class and wound up taking seven pages of notes!
After discussing our eight-week course, we heard from the top two commanders in the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office: Sheriff John Samaniego and Chief Deputy Clay Hammac.
Since this is a column, not an article, I can say that as part of my job for 280 Living, I’ve gotten to know both of these men over the years, and they’re both outstanding and always responsive whenever I reach out.
Hammac is currently responsible for the operational command and oversight of criminal investigations, drug enforcement, uniform patrol, tactical response, media relations. He also oversees budget, personnel and risk management.
We learned about each of the divisions of the sheriff’s office in our first class:
- Administrative (Commanded by Capt. Mark Bishop)
- Jail (Led by Capt. Russell Bedsole)
- Patrol (Led by Assistant Patrol Division Commander Cody Sumners)
- Criminal Investigations (Commanded by Capt. Jason Myrick)
- Drug Task Force/Compact (Led by Capt. Joseph McGee)
Class 2: Patrol Division
Sumners, the patrol division commander, led our second class and explained all about this division, which has 82 deputies (when fully staffed) working 12-hour shifts. There are four K9s throughout the department that can assist in explosives, narcotics, patrol purposes and school searches.
Field training officers with no law enforcement experience have to complete 16 weeks of training, which includes hands-on observation and shadowing. Those with prior experience have to train for eight weeks.
Several cities in the county that don’t have a police department contract with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office to pay for deputies to patrol their areas. School resource officers are also located at county schools.
Class 3: Force Continuum Laws and The Court System
Shelby County District Attorney Matt Casey, Chief Deputy District Attorney Ben Fuller and Sgt. Stu Jones spoke during this session. This class taught us about the different types of offenses and how things progress once a person is in the court system, along with expectations and escalation procedures.
Casey works with the county for the state and handles every felony in the county. Misdemeanors are handled by the city courts.
Shelby County has approximately 5,000 felonies per year and over 13,000 misdemeanors (including traffic violations). We also learned about capital murder, felony sentencing and how youthful offender status is handled.
Jones told us about public expectations, agency expectations and law enforcement officer expectations. He spoke about the six steps in a situation and how officers can be one step ahead of the perpetrator. They are:
- Officer presence
- Verbal commands
- Soft-hand restraint
- Hard-hand restraints/strikes
- Intermediate weapons
- Deadly force
A Day on Patrol
I spent over six hours on a patrol ride-along on Oct. 11. I had a feeling I would enjoy it, and I was right. While it wasn’t a super active day, we did respond to a four-car accident on U.S. 280, with minor injuries, and made one traffic stop. The patrolman I was with made multiple stops at several requested patrol areas around North Shelby County. I asked a lot of questions and learned a lot that day. The one time he flipped the lights and siren on was probably my favorite part of the day.
I’m looking forward to the second half of the class and I’ll share about that in another column next month.
Leah Ingram Eagle is a community editor with Starnes Media.
