www.Correctionsone.com/corrections-training/articles/12 -
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Published on: 7/6/2007
Last Visited: 9/4/2008
Sheriff Lupe Valdez referred questions to her spokesman, Michael Ortiz, who said a little on-the-job training before hitting the classroom can be a good thing.
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Deputy Ortiz said he would assign certain duties to his trainees and then watch them.Training officers have to fill out evaluation sheets on the recruits each month.Any deficiencies are corrected the following month, he said.
"The liability is always there, but the training officer knows that," Deputy Ortiz said.
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One recruit called it quits after three days, Deputy Ortiz said.That saves the county the expense of having to put the recruit through the academy, he said.
County Commissioner John Wiley Price, chairman of the county's jail population committee, said he hasn't heard of any problems involving trainees.He said sheriff's commanders are aware of the issue and have stressed the need for better supervision of jail guards.
Mr. Price said Sheriff Valdez inherited the staffing shortage problem and is doing the best she can to address it.
"When it's all said and done, they are managing well under extremely dire circumstances," he said.