Twelve cadets graduated from Allan Hancock College’s CORE Custody Academy during a recent ceremony at the college’s Public Safety Training Complex in Lompoc.

“Today is not an ending, but rather a beginning,” said Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Vincent Wasilewski. “It is the beginning of a career in one of the most demanding and rewarding professions anywhere.”

All 12 graduates of CORE Academy Class #19 completed a comprehensive California Standards and Training for Corrections course consisting of 260 hours of instruction.

The six-week academy is designed to prepare students to work as correctional officers. Instruction included emergency planning in a custody facility; report writing; ethics; investigation procedures; contraband; arrest and control; physical fitness training; CPR/First Aid; and emergency vehicle operations.

“During our time here, we’ve come to rely on each other, we’ve pushed each other to achieve things we did not think we could, and we’ve encouraged each other through any and all failures we’ve encountered,” said Custody Deputy Jacob Borges, who was named the
class’s valedictorian.

All 12 of the CORE Academy graduates will go on to work as custody deputies for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.

The CORE Academy Class #19 graduates include: Tamanae Arriaga, Jeremy Bello, Jacob Borges, Hannah Falkner, Brittany Hawthorne-Helt, Robert Martinez, Jeffery Miller, Timothy Peralta, Adam Perez, Gregory Smith, Autumn Winter, and Juan Zamora Villafana.