
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office welcomed 11 new deputies after their graduation from Alan Hancock College’s Basic Law Enforcement Academy.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office welcomes 11 new deputies after their graduation from Alan Hancock College Basic Law Enforcement Academy.
The new deputies, along with seven classmates, completed a comprehensive California Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) 862-hour course of instruction. Academy Instruction included community policing, report writing, laws of arrest, search and seizure, firearms, ethics, investigation procedures, patrol techniques, arrest and control, physical training, CPR/ First aid, and emergency vehicle operation.
Prior to the graduation ceremony, Sheriff Bill Brown led a swearing-in ceremony where he welcomed Daniel Abernethy, Oscar Covarrubias, Gregory Dominguez, Elias Gonzalez, Estanislao Gutierrez Jr., David Morrell, Marc Pyle, Jonathan Reyes, Ignacio Rios, Miguel Rodriguez and Sergio Rodriguez-Gutierrez. The ceremony marks the beginning of each deputy’s career, and was shared with close family members, including a badge pinning ceremony where recruits had badges pinned on their uniforms by a significant person in their lives, such as a mother, father or spouse. The moment marked the culmination of over six months of hard work.
Recruits were honored with awards recognizing achievements in specific areas during the ceremony. Deputy Gutierrez was honored with the Leigh Horn Memorial Award for Most Improved, Deputy Morrell received the Doug Odom Firearms Award, Deputy Abernethy earned the Physical Fitness Award and Deputy Gonzalez was honored with the Scenarios Award.
email: kzehnder@newspress.com