Going the Distance : Valencia Sheriff’s Academy Shapes Up

It could have turned into a nightmare for recruiters in an agency that’s always hiring.

At the least, the move of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department training academy from East Los Angeles to Whittier in 1984 was no selling point in the agency’s drive to attract new deputies from the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys. A round-trip commute of up to 250 miles is not something that appeals to job-seekers.

But before the distance caused too many headaches, the department came up with an answer to the recruiters’ dilemma. If new recruits wouldn’t go to the academy, the academy would go to them. In March, a new sheriff’s training academy for northern Los Angeles County opened at freeway-close College of the Canyons in Valencia.

Now, halfway through an 18-week trial program, prospects are good for establishment of a permanent North County Sheriff’s Academy at the college.

1st Class Prepares to Graduate

The first class, which has 61 recruits, will be graduated from the academy in July. Because of the favorable response, college and Sheriff’s Department officials have decided to offer a second 18-week academy session at the campus beginning Oct. 14.

“Everything looks good for it to continue,” said Sgt. Karen Tanigawa, a 14-year Sheriff’s Department veteran who oversees the new academy’s instructional program.

“Enrollment is not that heavy here. We’ve had no problems with the regular students disrupting our training. At first, they stared a lot. Now, nobody pays much attention. We’ve blended in very well.”

Indeed, the rural setting of College of the Canyons seems ideal for a sheriff’s academy. Physical agility training--two hours of rigorous calisthenics three times a week--takes place amid rolling hills under sunny and usually smog-free skies on the quiet field of a football stadium.

Lectures are held in a well-equipped, air-conditioned hall. A shooting range for target practice and weapons training is nearby at the Peter J. Pitchess Honor Rancho, a 5,000-inmate county jail in Castaic. Even a sack lunch from home tastes better when eaten beside the campus swimming pool.

‘Has Been Fantastic’

“The college has been fantastic to us,” Tanigawa said. “They give us as much as they can.”

But there are more concrete reasons for the new academy’s success.

The department has 600 openings, and about 40% of its 6,500 deputies come from the northern part of the county.

“We need new deputies badly,” said Sheriff’s Deputy Lane D. Greenberg, one of seven recruiters. “We’re always hiring.”

The large number of openings is attributed to the department’s size and the crowded conditions in county jail facilities, where new deputies are first sent.

“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is the largest in the United States,” Greenberg said. “Attrition alone leaves us with 350 openings a year.”

In addition, county jail facilities are expanding rapidly in the north county area. The Pitchess facility is scheduled to build facilities for 3,000 more maximum- and medium-security inmates by 1989. A 200-bed women’s jail will open in Mira Loma in July.

The cost of the northern academy is minimal for the Sheriff’s Department, which is reimbursed by the state Peace Officers Standards and Training Agency for each deputy it trains. The department pays the college $50 per student in tuition fees, and the college also receives a set amount from the state Department of Education for each day a recruit attends classes.

To be eligible to enroll at the academy, applicants must pass written, oral and psychological tests, a physical examination and a background check.

The hiring process takes four to six months, Greenberg said. “Not everyone is hired, but most who apply stand a good chance.”

Age Requirements Stated

The first north academy class has recruits ranging in age from 21 to 45. The minimum age requirement is 21; there is no maximum age.

“We’re starting to get new people who are a lot older now,” Greenberg said. “Many have spent 20 years with the military, have retired and are starting second careers.”

Starting salary depends on educational background. New deputies with high school educations earn $25,000 a year. If they have two-year college degrees, new recruits earn $27,000 a year. Those with a four-year degree are paid $29,000 a year to start.

Tanigawa said that most recruits have had a law enforcement background of some sort. “They come from reserves, Explorer Scouts and intern programs,” she said. “Some are women married to deputies. Others are secretaries in law enforcement. We have one woman who has about eight children.”

Because the new women’s jail in Mira Loma has a number of job openings, the class has attracted a larger proportion of women than usual. There are 20 female and 41 male recruits in the class.

The 61 recruits are taught by five instructors. Tanigawa pointed out that at the main academy in Whittier, classes more than twice as large have just seven instructors.

Lecture classes are on subjects such as the laws of evidence, force and weaponry, police community relations, the law, patrol procedures, traffic enforcement and criminal investigations. Role-playing in various situations is an important part of the training.

Recruits train 40 hours a week for 18 weeks. And the training is intensive. On a recent day, recruits, who had been out late at shooting practice the night before, were up early the next morning for two hours of calisthenics.

During training, “the academy becomes your life,” Greenberg said.