CLARKSBURG, WV (LOOTPRESS) – The Harrison County Citizen Sheriff’s Academy, under Sheriff Robert Matheny, has created an exciting eight-week program that gives business, religious, civic, and community leaders an inside look at the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office.
The academy will be on consecutive Thursdays, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., beginning on August 10 and ending with graduation on October 5.
Most classes will meet at the Law Enforcement Headquarters, 609 W. Main Street, Clarksburg, with some meetings off-site. To qualify for graduation, participants cannot miss more than two sessions. There is no charge for this academy.
Applications can be downloaded from the Sheriff’s Office Facebook page, picked up at the office on West Main Street, at the Tax Division in the Court House, or from a Deputy Sheriff Reserve.
The mission of this academy is to further a greater understanding of the role of the Sheriff throughout Harrison County. It will consist of demonstrations, lectures, PowerPoint and videos, interactions, hands-on, guest presenters, and frank discussions.
Through this interaction, the Sheriff’s Office hopes to strengthen relationships with the communities it serves and be able to better respond to community issues and concerns. For the participants, you will have a look into, and an understanding of, the inner workings of the office like no other.
The topics presented will include, but are not limited to: Court Room Procedures, Staging (jail and transport), Court Security, the role of the Bailiffs; Process Division, those who serve papers; The Tax Division; The work of Detectives: from investigations, crime processing, evidence gathering, crime scene reconstruction, and hands-on with a mock Crime Scene; The Patrol Unit, scenarios deputies face every day in the field from traffic stops to violent crimes; K-9 Team, with training and demonstrations; Tours of the 911 Center and the North Central Regional Jail; The role of the Youth Outreach Unit (DARE and School Prevention Resource Deputies), and the DSR’s (Deputy Sheriff Reserve Unit); A Range Day, where participants will fire various weapons used and relied on by the Sheriff’s Office; The Greater Harrison County Drug and violent crime Taskforce, SWAT training, tactics, equipment and weapons, and guidelines.
At the conclusion of the program, graduates will be given an opportunity to join the ‘first Harrison County Citizen Sheriff’s Academy Alumni Association, for the purpose of strengthening relationships and improving understanding between the Sheriff’s Office and the community, now and in the future.
As a graduate, one will become an Ambassador for the Sheriff’s Office and a direct link from their communities to the Sheriff’s Office.