The Sedgwick County Sheriff's Department adds 17 new detention officers today. The cadets graduated Friday morning at the Sedgwick County Law Enforcement Training Center.
Sheriff Robert Hinshaw welcomed the recruits to his office. The officers still have six weeks of field training to complete, where they will work as partners with veteran detention deputies at the facility.
“Once that badge hit my chest I knew that this is a career path, this is what I chose, this is what I want to do” says graduate Bruce Crandon.
“It just kind of sparked my interest and it’s been turned into an inferno of this is what I want to do”, adds fellow grad Andrew Jansson.
The graduating class represents the future faces of detention deputies of Sedgwick County. Their job is to monitor inmates while they are locked up. It’s a task that each graduate approaches with a certain sense of eager energy.
“You can’t learn everything in your course, until you actually get out there on the field you’re going to have a couple of curve balls thrown at you”, adds Crandon.
176 people applied to become a detention deputy. 17 were accepted and 17 graduated. That was one of the biggest things the group had to overcome, trying to get all of their personalities on the same page during their eleven weeks of training.
Their job, is under more scruntity because of allegations involving another Sedgwick County detention deputy. 21-year-old David Kendal is accused of raping two inmates. This class was told people may ask about the situation.
"It's an open investigation, so no one is allowed to say anything. But I am ready to start my career; I am excited about it, looking forward to it". "I know I am ready to start my job and do it righ, do my job right"," said two of the graduates.
Sheriff Robert Hinshaw commented on the achievement of walking across the graduation stage after such rigorous training. “I have pride in their accomplishment because I know what it’s like to go through that”.
