Volusia County Sheriff's Office to open new deputy training academy in spring

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office is on track to open its deputy training academy in the spring.

The Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission approved the academy on February 11.

Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said they plan to start training out-of-state applicants in May and welcome the first recruit class on June 7.

"Since we announced this we've gotten 174 applicants have come in that's unheard of for us in this short period of time," Sheriff Chitwood said. He hopes to run three cadet classes of 20 students each by the end of the year to fill 60 current vacancies.

The sheriff cautions the acceptance rate for VCSO cadets is only 18 percent, so it may take time to fill all empty positions. But he believes offering paid training and benefits is a big draw for applicants.

"The first day you walk through that door we're going to pay $14 an hour and medical benefits. Then, once you get through training, you get a pay raise. Once you pass the exam you get a pay raise. So there are steps, all the way, until you get the full deputy pay."

Chitwood previously spoke to FOX 35, saying the old model for law enforcement training does not work and he wanted to turn the model on its head to focus on what’s best for his agency and Volusia County. He said right now, his office is working on the curriculum, identifying instructors for classes, and buying computer software and textbooks.

The sheriff said, "Racial bias racial and implicit bias training is going to be a big component of this… critical incident training, scenario-based training. All of these things that you don't get into boiler-plate academy."

VCSO already has a state-certified range, driving course, classrooms, defensive tactics lab and instructors.

People interested in more information on becoming a VCSO deputy recruit, visit the VCSO website.