Through the ranks
Sep. 13—A full-time law enforcement career is not for everybody, but a citizens academy provided by Wilson County Sheriff's Office offers area residents the experience of what it's like.
The nine-week program features an immersive curriculum that takes students through the environs of local law enforcement. This year, there is a new instructor for the program. Cpl. Matt Bush is taking over for recently retired Lt. James Lanier, who stepped down from his posting on July 31.
Bush indicated that he is ready to take up the mantle of the program. With a teaching background, he's confident he can curate a curriculum to continue pushing forward the program that his predecessor started. To his advantage, the academy instructor's formal education was in teaching.
"When I first came out of college, I had a teaching degree, and I worked at several schools but came to the Wilson County Sheriff's Office when I decided I wanted a career in law enforcement," Bush said. "Teaching is teaching. You are taking the knowledge that you have learned and are trying to share that knowledge with someone else."
Bush's role within the department is in a year-round instructional capacity as he annually guides personnel through their required in-service training.
"I have to keep these officers engaged," Bush said. "The one thing about law-enforcement training is that it is like an evolution. It is always going. We start in April and go all the way up to November. I see many similarities as being in a classroom."
Now that he is instructing the citizens academy, he's optimistic about training civilians and imparting to them valuable understanding.
"We aim to give them something tangible they can walk away with," Bush said.
The course is designed to welcome students as if they are new employees at the Wilson County Sheriff's Office.
"They start in corrections," Bush said. "They'll learn a little bit about corrections and see the jail. As that goes forward, they move into patrol, investigations, and so forth. We want them to see it as if they were actually going through the process of a normal officer's career."
The academy will place the students into scenarios that simulate real-life without potentially putting them in harm's way.
"Our hands-on stuff is more interactive," Bush said. "It's not any actual police tactics. You will be involved. During the patrol portion, you will actually ride on the emergency-vehicle-operations course. You see how officers do the different maneuvers and see how they train with their weapons."
Bush will be able to incorporate many of his own experiences into the academy curriculum.
"I started out with corrections myself," Bush. "I went to patrol and then to investigations. After that, I came to the training division."
The nine-week program meets every Tuesday from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. Students are required to pass a background check, but no minimum physical requirements exist. The students will take classes that will include a jail tour, sessions with K-9 units and defensive tactics.
Students also see the workings of the Senior Citizens Awareness Network (SCAN), school resource officers, and special response teams.
