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Santa Barbara, Calif. – The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office congratulated four academy graduates and welcomed one lateral just before the Allan Hancock College Basic Law Enforcement Academy graduation yesterday. The class of 22 recruits completed a comprehensive California Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), 862-hour course of instruction. Some of the academy instruction included community policing, report writing, laws of arrest, search and seizure, firearms, ethics, investigation procedures, patrol techniques, arrest and control, physical training, CPR/First Aid, and emergency vehicle operations.
Just before the graduation ceremony, Sheriff Brown led a swearing-in ceremony where he welcomed new deputies Dylan Darga, Kayla Saint-Fleur, Matthew Shotwell, and Garrett Weinreich along with Heather van Hemert who is joining the Sheriff’s Office as a lateral from the Santa Paula Police Department where she was a K9 handler and was featured on an episode of A&E’s America’s Top Dog.