Our Citizen Academy was 10 sessions of fun, engaging programs from our Sheriff’s Office team members. It was supposed to be 11 sessions, but mother-nature had other plans in January which prevented our participants from safely meeting; that week was combined with another to ensure our team could respond to the severe winter weather and to keep our participants off the road and safer at home. Below is a summary of what happened during the week 5 through week 10/11 of our academy. 

Week 5 Recap

Patrol Lieutenant Karl Vertner shared a broad overview of the Patrol Division, knowing his team would be sharing more details with their programs’ presentations during this session and additional classes. Patrol Deputy James Holmes, currently our School Resource Deputy (SRD), shared information on SRD duties, daily activities, and collaboration with Lincoln County Schools and other agencies. Finally, our Community Services Deputies (CSD) Larry Wooten and Joshua Bibbee covered the specifics of code enforcement, including code enforcement for vacation rentals that fall under Lincoln County’s jurisdiction. 

Week 6 Recap

Marine Deputies Dion Blake and Chris Barth kicked off week 6 with an engaging Marine Program presentation (including a water rescue demonstration and life jacket demonstration), ending with a tour of the boat garage for a closer look at the marine vessels suited for various responses and duties. Detective Tony Bettencourt demonstrated how Electronic Storage Detection (ESD) Canine (K9) Trinity would perform a search for hidden electronics. It is safe to say she stole the show with her sweet demeanor and skilled sniffing. To finish the night, Sergeant Detective Jason Spano and Detective Bettencourt hosted an interactive fingerprinting activity, which was wildly popular and fun.  

Week 7 Recap

Late nights are great when you’re with great company! Our Support Services Director Lisa Combs started the night off with an overview of Support Services, including a closer look at the Civil Division, Records Division, and Evidence/Property Division. Then Evidence Control Specialist Sarah Tabb gave a more detailed overview of the evidence process and hosted a tour of the evidence room and the cool gadgets that are used to help maintain and preserve evidence. 

Week 8 Recap

Sergeant Detective Spano joined the group again to cover the Patrol K9 presentation with a promise of a live demo from Ghost the following week. Forest Deputy and SAR Coordinator Bruce McGuire then finished the night with a presentation on the forest program and Search and Rescue program operations. Deputy McGuire’s photos and stories were very interesting, but the class was thankful not to be on a live SAR activation call as part of the late night class. 

Week 9 Recap

As promised, K9 Handler Zach Akin started the night with a Patrol K9 demonstration. Deputy Corbin Collins was kind enough to put on the bite suit so no Citizen Academy participants would have to. Following the K9 demo, Corrections Sergeant Joshua McDowall, Corrections Deputies Justin Stark and Seth Lewis, and Patrol Sergeant Patrick Dougherty came together to demonstrate some of the on-going training their teams complete regularly. The team covered the tools deputies have in the jail and on patrol and some times each tool might be used to gain compliance and/or prevent further injuries. After the overview, participants had the chance to practice firing training rounds and tasers at targets. Our team then ran through some confrontation simulations (role-playing scenarios with various levels of confrontation) with participants so they could get a glimpse of the ongoing training and situations deputies are in every day. Willing participants had the chance to walk through a scenario such as a conflict in the jail or responding to a suspicious call. In each scenario participants acting as deputies had to try to de-escalate and made tough choices on when to use force. Afterwards they shared why they made the decisions they did, if they would have done anything differently, and wanted to know how our deputies would have handled the situation. 

Week 10 Recap

Sheriff Curtis Landers and Administrative Lieutenant Adam Shanks started week 10 with a debrief from the prior week’s confrontation simulations. With more time to think about the scenario, how they felt during, and how they reacted, participants had a lot to share. Our team also got to share information on how our office debriefs after stressful situations and why consistent, continued training is vital. Executive Assistant Jess Palma and Lieutenant Shanks then took the class through a deeper look at the robust wellness program the Sheriff’s Office has. It was clear throughout this presentation how important wellness, resiliency, and support is for our team members -when they are at their best, they can do their best for our communities. 

Week 11 Recap

The final week of Citizen Academy was a success. Jail Commander, Lieutenant Jamie Russell, shared an overview of the Corrections Division before breaking participants into smaller groups for a thorough jail tour. During the tour, participants met with Kitchen Manager Daniel Driver for a closer look at the kitchen, cooking classes offered, and nutrition programming. They also met with Sergeant Marie Gainer for an overview of medical services and support offered. Participants finished the tour after meeting with team members in various stations including booking, Deputy Thomas Cook working central (the room with screens monitoring the building and controlling internal traffic), Deputy Geoff DeHaan while he was with other deputies monitoring some of our pods, and various other areas in the jail. Finally, we wrapped up our 2024 Citizen Academy with a recap and graduation ceremony from Sheriff Landers. 

View more photos from the 2024 Citizen Academy on our Facebook page.

Interested in joining the 2025 Citizen Academy? 

Our team would love to show you the many programs our Office maintains. Join us in 2025 for a closer look at your Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and enjoy interactive presentations, live demonstrations, and hands-on activities. Submit your application now and we will contact you when the 2025 Academy is open. Application link: www.volgistics.com/appform/186813