Nineteen individuals graduated from the 11th Anson County Sheriff’s Citizens Law Enforcement Academy on April 25. This Academy was sponsored and put together by the Sheriff’s Office for participants who applied from all over Anson County.

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On April 25, 19 individuals graduated from the 11th Anson County Sheriff’s Citizens Law Enforcement Academy. This Academy was sponsored and put together by the Sheriff’s Office for participants who applied from all over Anson County.

The purpose of the Academy was to expose participants to the many different aspects of law enforcement and the criminal justice system. This Academy began on March 7 and met each Thursday night from 6-9 p.m. Participants heard presentations from the sheriff, the District Attorney’s Office, Magistrate’s Office, Sheriff’s Detectives, FBI, U.S. Secret Service, ATF, Federal Wildlife, state forest rangers and others from the law enforcement community. They saw a K-9 demonstration, a demonstration of the Sheriff’s SWAT team, a TASAR demonstration, toured the 911 Operations Center, the Sheriff’s Office, Magistrate’s Office, Detective’s Office and the county jail. They saw a display of illegal drugs, watched videos of undercover drug buys, participated in a mock crime scene; saw Sheriff’s Office vehicles and firearms and equipment; and actually fired weapons on the Sheriff’s Office’s firing range. They also participated in the Sheriff’s “Ride-A-Long” Program.

Graduates from the Academy were: Sherri Allen, Taylor Allen, Shaniqua Bennett, Jessica Brunson, Jason Clarke, Diane Goodwin, John C. Crawford, Vionita Legrande, Carly Little, Barbara Lowe, Matthew Morris, Chris Morton, Jamie Richardson, Shanda Shaw, Erica Tarlton, Bruce Taylor, Rowena Thibodeaux, Erin Tillman and Jonathan Williams.

Anson County Sheriff Tommy Allen said this was a really good Academy class. “These participants did a great job,” Sheriff Allen said. “We had very good attendance and good class participation and at the end of the program the most common comment was ‘don’t change a thing’; and ‘make it longer,’ or ‘wished it didn’t end.’ I think the fact that they did not want it to end speaks highly of the program. We have now graduated around 260 citizens from our eleven academies.”

The next Sheriff’s Citizens Law Enforcement Academy has been tentatively set to start on Feb. 27, 2014. Details for applications will made through the local papers and on the Sheriff’s Office web site at www.ansonsheriff.com after the first of next year.