VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — The Virginia Beach Police Department is always on the look out for new recruits, and this year they are getting a couple of new ones that are already familiar with the law.
Two deputies from the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office will be participating in a partnership that offers more training to what they have already learned from their days in the sheriff’s academy.
“More training. I just feel like there is more to offer and I want to know everything that the police know, I want to know how we can help them better and how they can help us better,” said Virginia Beach Deputy Willis Tomblin.
Tomblin works on the streets in the Civil Process Division serving court papers and evictions. Deputy Nelson Alvarez works in Corrections maintaining the safety and security of the jail. And is ready for the challenge to assist the police in any way.
“Whether its like Something in The Water or the Beach It Festival, those events that it is all hands on deck I am going to be out in the public responding to whatever situation or crisis that comes around,” Alvarez said.
Beach Sheriff Rocky Holcomb says it is a win-win situation to cross train his deputies with the advanced training the police academy has to offer.
“People ask why are we doing this training and I ask why not?” Holcomb said. “I think we owe it to our citizens to have the most advanced training that we can receive. In fact the majority of our funding or a large amount of our funding comes from city council. So I think we should be trained as equally as the police department and be able to do the same job when called upon to compliment and do that job.”
For Alvarez and Tomblin, they start at the academy on the 11th of this month and the training runs 24 weeks, with graduation in June.