Sheriff Curtis Landers announces the 12 member Sheriff’s Office Community Advisory Group, established January of this year, completed a 13-week Citizen Academy which included an introduction to all of the Sheriff’s Office operations. The group met once a week for 2 hours and received information on several topics related to the Sheriff’s Office including history of the Sheriff; jail operations including corrections health, programs, warrants and food services; support services including records management, evidence, concealed handgun license and civil service; emergency management; animal shelter; and patrol including search and rescue, canine, forest, marine, animal services, investigations and school resource.
The mission of the group is to provide us with community insight relating to public safety priorities and developing crime prevention strategies. It is another step in increasing our strong partnership with the community, continued transparency and active building of positive relationships.
“The group has a wealth of knowledge from various experiences and offers a diverse geographic representation of the county,” stated Sheriff Landers. “They have already assisted in providing advice on a number of topics for the Sheriff’s Office.”
Sheriff Landers continued, “The group exceeded my expectations for community engagement and our citizens should be proud of the volunteer work the members are doing on their behalf. They demonstrate a commitment to representing the interests of the public”.
With the knowledge the group has gained regarding Sheriff’s Office operations, they will now meet and transition their focus on priorities for the Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Landers stated, “It is important to have citizen input for prioritizing our community’s public safety needs because we are here to serve them”.
The commitment to work with communities to address immediate and longer-term crime effects through joint problem solving reduces crime and improves quality of life. The Sheriff’s Office Community Advisory Group may be asked for input on a myriad of issues to enhance public safety and community engagement.
One of the recommendations the group provided is to conduct a citizen academy each year to provide the same information to more people in our community. The citizen academy provided a wealth of knowledge to the group and they believe it should be shared with more citizens throughout our county. Anyone interested in participating in a future Sheriff’s Office citizen academy can expect an announcement for another citizen academy later this year
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(pictured from left to right-Ray Woodruff, Steve Sparks, Randy Getman, Aidan Leavitt, Rick Booth, Misty Lambrecht, Peter Ginter, Ron Pierre, Linda Fitz-Armstrong, William Smerdon, Morella Bierwag, Sheriff Landers, Frank Geltner)