[Nat Pop... "From the Sullivan County Deputy Sheriff's Office, Deputy Mary Handzus."]
>>Paul Banach, Law Enforcement Training Specialist: “No matter what branch of law enforcement
you have out there today, people want a top quality product. They want people who are
professional, they want people that are level-headed that have good morals and ethical values and
that’s what we try to put out to the public.”
[Nat Pop... "Sound off! Today! We never give up, never give in, never let go!"]
>>Jamie, Reporter: FOR PENNSYLVANIA DEPUTY SHERIFFS, THERE’S ONLY ONE PLACE TO GO TO
(FOR) COMPLETE CERTIFICATION AND THAT IS HERE… THE PENN STATE JUSTICE AND SAFETY INSTITUTE
OR JASI.
[Nat Pop... "Do not move and you will not get hurt. Do you understand me?"]
THE 19-WEEK BASIC TRAINING ACADEMY IMPROVES AND TEACHES SKILLS DEPUTIES NEED TO PROTECT
AND SERVE THE CITIZENS OF THE COMMONWEALTH.
[Nat Pop... "Mr. Saunders, can you exit the vehicle please?"]
PENN STATE JASI HAS OFFERED THIS TRAINING ACADEMY SINCE 2000, AFTER THE STATE SUPREME
COURT MANDATED THE EXPANSION OF DEPUTY SHERIFFS’ LAW ENFORCEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES.
>>Don Zettlemoyer, Director, Penn State Justice and Safety Institute:
“I think there’s a big difference from where we started in 2000 to where it’s at
now, that’s part of all parties, including us, learning. I think it’s improved dramatically
because we constantly seek to improve the program and improve the experience for the
deputies. They’re sacrificing a lot of time and we want to make sure that time is used
productively.”
>>Jamie, Reporter: SHERIFFS FROM ALL 67 COUNTIES ARE REQUIRED TO SEND THEIR NEW DEPUTIES FOR
EITHER AN 80-HOUR WAIVER COURSE OR THE 760 HOURS OF BASIC TRAINING.
[Nat Pop of gun shots.]
>>Terry Bergman, Lancaster County Sheriff: “I tell them to come up here, do your best,
be safe and please, please accept, with a positive attitude, a good 19-week program.”
>>Jamie, Reporter: WITHIN THE NEARLY FIVE-MONTH PERIOD, DEPUTIES ARE GIVEN A WIDE RANGE OF
TRAINING FROM FIREARMS, DEFENSIVE TACTICS AND CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION TO FIRST AID,
COURTROOM PROCEDURES AND YOGA.
>>Kerry Geib (g-eye-b), Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office: “There were a lot of jobs that I
hadn’t had any exposure to before coming up here that I’ll now be more ready to handle
it—it really prepares you for what you’d have to do.”
>>Jamie, Reporter: ACADEMY DIRECTOR BOB STONIS ATTRIBUTES THAT UNDERSTANDING TO HIS DIVERSE
TEAM OF INSTRUCTORS.
>>Bob Stonis, Associate Director, Law Enforcement Training Programs: “We have municipal police
officers, I have judges, I have lawyers, state police officers, I have people from corrections,
from probation and parole so they really do get a well-rounded education learning different
aspects of the criminal justice system.”
>>Jamie, Reporter: JASI HAS TRAINED THOUSANDS OF DEPUTIES IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE PENNSYLVANIA
COMMISSION ON CRIME AND DELINQUENCY AND ITS DEPUTY SHERIFFS’ EDUCATION AND TRAINING
BOARD.
THE BOARD HAS EVEN PAVED THE WAY FOR DEPUTIES TO EARN CREDITS TOWARD A COLLEGE DEGREE.
>>Harry Forbes, Pike County Commissioner Board member (1997):
"By creating the course of study that is here it has allowed these people to make a career
path and a choice to whether they are accredited law enforcement agencies within the Commonwealth.
And I think that’s important to a young person or a person coming in to want to be
a deputy sheriff for the simple fact that it allows them to look at where they're at,
where they can be down the road. Can they aspire to be a sheriff of a county or could
they aspire to be a police chief somewhere with the education and the background that
we give them?”
[Nat pop... "You have to make sure you have that mental focus that you're going to pass
these tests."]
>>Jamie, Reporter: RIGHT NOW, THE JASI STAFF IS WORKING ON USING LESS TRADITIONAL TEACHING
METHODS AND IMPLEMENTING MORE PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING.
>>Paul Banach: “It’s more of an adult-based learning methodology being given the fact
that all the deputies coming in are adult learners of varying ages we find it a little
bit easier for them to absorb material than just through the standard PowerPoint or lecture.”
>>Dan Miltenberger, Training Specialist: “That’s the real benefit because you’re getting
not only just theory, you’re getting anecdotal information. And you’re getting anecdotal,
practical applications of the theory.”
>>Bob Stonis: “We’re on the cutting edge, if you will, as far as the instruction and
I think that we’ll be the “go to” academy for other academies in Pennsylvania to make
their programs better.”
>>Jamie, Reporter: EACH YEAR, PENN STATE JASI CONDUCTS THE THREE 19-WEEK TRAINING PROGRAMS
AND FIVE 2-WEEK WAIVER PROGRAMS FOR DEPUTIES WITH PREVIOUS POLICE TRAINING.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE PENN STATE JUSTICE AND SAFETY INSTITUTE, VISIT THEM ON THE WEB.
FOR PENN STATE OUTREACH… I’M JAMIE CUROTT.