PROFILES OF 3 RECRUITS : Ready Answer Opened Door to Academy

What kind of people do police agencies in Orange County want to recruit? Says Susan Saxe-Clifford, a forensic psychologist who works for the county Sheriff’s Department:

“Someone who is mature, responsible, physically fit, understands what the job is about, has prepared well for a career, has good relationships in his or her personal life, is articulate and has a stable job history. And a sense of humor too.”

Staff writer Jerry Hicks prepared profiles of three recent honors recruits of the county Sheriff’s Training Academy.

James De Kruif feared that his chance to become a deputy sheriff had been shattered when a psychologist who tested him said his written tests showed he might not be aggressive enough to make a good law enforcement officer.

De Kruif had a quick answer. He had paid his own way to Orange County from his home in Sheldon, Iowa, to be tested. He was ready to leave his wife and 6-year-old son behind in Iowa for 18 weeks of training. Wasn’t that aggressive?

He made it into the training academy.

The only thing De Kruif knew about Orange County was what he had heard--lots of freeways, lots of smog, lots of crime and no personal space. But after graduating from a small Iowa college, he found law enforcement opportunities limited in his home state.

So when he heard that two Orange County Sheriff’s Department recruiters were in nearby Omaha, Neb., he decided to apply and was eventually accepted.

The academy was tough enough that the 26-year-old De Kruif lost 20 pounds. But he was eager to excel, and his enthusiasm led to his selection by his peers as class chaplain--a leadership role more than a religious one.

“I was expecting the worst, that they’d run me down, kick me around, march me,” De Kruif said. “But it really wasn’t like that. It was tough, but you could see a reason for everything they did. Actually, they kept us so busy we didn’t have time to think about how rough it was.”