350 Deputies Disarmed, Need Valid Training

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department has disarmed about 350 corrections deputies after learning that the weapons training courses they took were not certified.

Sheriff’s Department officials believe the deputies were properly trained but worry about a liability problem if officials are forced to prove, in a civil lawsuit, that the uncertified classes were adequate.

The certification agency, Peace Officers Standards and Training, has urged the department to send the deputies back through 64 hours of academy training in firearms, arrest laws and self-defense tactics.

However, POST continues to review whether it would be possible to retroactively certify the courses already taken, officials said.

The corrections deputies underwent extra training so they could carry firearms when transporting prisoners and guarding jail perimeters--tasks previously performed only by regular sworn deputies who already carried guns.

The Sheriff’s Department got special state legislation passed to allow it to arm corrections deputies, giving the department flexibility to put more sworn deputies on patrol.

The 350 corrections deputies underwent extra training in firearms and arrests over the last two or more years. The department was surprised to learn that the courses weren’t certified by POST, said Sheriff’s Academy Lt. Mike Peltier.

“It seemed grossly unfair--it’s not as if we gave them only half the training required,” Peltier said. He noted that the corrections deputies got about 10 more hours of training than the 64 hours required.

Although cost estimates for retraining have run as high as $1 million, Assistant Sheriff Mel Nichols said the cost would be kept much lower by gradually retraining small numbers of deputies over several months.

“In the meantime, all corrections deputies without POST approval were pulled from assignments in which they were required to carry guns,” Nichols said. “There are enough fully trained deputies to carry out those assignments.”

The Sheriff’s Department said the classes for the corrections deputies were the same as POST-certified classes given to regular deputies. But POST officials say they have no way of knowing that.