Proud family and friends gathered on Friday at the Emergency Operations Center in Lecanto to watch their loved ones being sworn into the Citrus County Sheriff's Office.

Each of the seven deputies assumed a post in their first law enforcement job, and received their first badge at the hands of CCSO Sheriff Jeff Dawsy.

The ceremony marked the conclusion of the latest block of intensive training for the cadets, having been taught the law, and experienced the gamut of the law enforcement officer - including the taser, pepper spray and more. Now, the deputies will enter into a higher level of training.

On Friday though, it was a day of joy, pride, celebration and first instructions from their commander-in-chief.

Earlier on Friday, the new recruits (joined by the sheriff and other runners from the CCSO) completed about a 5-mile run through downtown Inverness to “introduce” themselves to the community.  The run – in cadence – made stops along the way, with recruits doing calisthenics in unison by way of that introduction. The group then later made a stop at the City of Inverness Government Center.

According to CCSO spokesman Gail Tierney, these seven new deputies will now be entering into an 11-week segment of training out in the field under the direct supervision of their Field Training Officers (FTO) before going solo. Field training has a significant impact on the individual recruit in terms of imprinting attitudes, styles, values and ethics in carrying out the duties of law enforcement that will last throughout a career. Accordingly, it’s probably the most effective influence on the future direction of any agency, she said.

Whether sworn officers or civilians, all new hires spend three weeks attending the Sheriff’s Employee Institute where they learn about the responsibilities and value of each Sheriff’s Office employee.  In this totally hands-on, interactive venue, new employees get to experience what detectives, crime scene technicians, child protective investigators, crime analysts and others do and see every day, Tierney said.

From there, newly hired sworn officers move on to a highly structured FTO program, which is akin to basic military training.  Working closely with the agency’s training unit at the Withlacoochee Technical Institute, new recruits enter a 6-week-long classroom environment where experts from within the agency instruct them on such topics as report writing, pursuit driving, as well as how to write a traffic citation and package evidence. Besides paramilitary uniform inspections and daily physical training, recruits also experience the ins and outs of basic administrative responsibilities borne by working deputies.

Next is a 40-hour week of crisis intervention training, where new recruits learn how to recognize and deal effectively with subjects who exhibit varying degrees of mental illness, Tierney said.

And finally, bridging the gap between classroom theory and street application, recruits come under the watch of several different FTOs who ride with them in patrol cars and oversee their real-life interaction with complainants, victims and suspects.  For 11 weeks, they learn to build and develop their skills in the field so when the time comes for them to ride solo as rookie deputies, they are more knowledgeable, better prepared and entirely capable of making more informed decisions.

New deputies must also learn quickly, and be able to relate their intelligence to routine or crisis situations.

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