New Valencia Campus : 1st Graduates, Now Deputies, Call It 1st Class

Earlene Whitney and her classmates became more than Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies on Friday when they were graduated from the sheriff’s academy.

As the first graduates from a new sheriff’s training facility at College of the Canyons in Valencia, they became a small part of Sheriff’s Department history.

Whitney, mother of six, was one of 41 men and 16 women graduated from the alternative sheriff’s academy, which was set up to attract recruits from the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys.

Sheriff’s Department officials were so pleased with the increased interest in joining the department from northwestern residents of the county that another class will begin in October. Sheriff Sherman Block said he hopes two training classes a year will be held at the college.

“We’re pleased with the response and how conducive this atmosphere is for training and learning,” Block said. “Having this first class is significant, but even more significant is having an academy which can enhance our recruitment in the northwestern part of the county.”

Moved Training Academy

The department two years ago moved its main training academy from East Los Angeles to Whittier, a round-trip of up to 250 miles for most of the cadets who took the 18-week course.

For Whitney, who lives in Acton, halfway between Palmdale and Newhall, the location of the academy enabled her to realize a goal of more than 10 years.

“I feel wonderful because I’m now a deputy, but I feel a little more pride being part of this first class,” Whitney said. “Having this academy so close was a blessing to me. I wanted to do this years ago, but I had children and obligations. Having this place here made things a whole lot easier and I was able to do it.”

Another cadet, Tom Palmieri, 23, who lives just a block from the campus, said he was impressed by the atmosphere and the convenience.

“I think this is the best academy in the whole country,” Palmieri said. “It was better to be here than the main academy in Whittier because the classes were smaller and the training was more specialized.”

Most of the women eventually will be assigned to a 200-bed women’s jail in Mira Loma, which is scheduled to open in September, a sheriff’s spokeswoman said. The male graduates will be split between the Mira Loma jail, the 5,000-inmate Peter J. Pitchess Honor Rancho in Castaic and other county facilities.