Citizens Academy graduates

Celina, OH -- Mercer County Sheriff Jeff Grey announced today that eleven students graduated from the Sheriff’s Office’s first Citizen’s Academy on October 2, 2013. Each of the students was provided with a certificate of completion. The 2013 Citizen’s Academy consisted of students from different backgrounds, age groups, and areas of Mercer County.

The students completed 18 hours of training that included classroom time, hands on demonstrations, and tours of the facility. The students were also given an opportunity to ride along with a patrol deputy during their normal duty shifts. The training sessions met twice a week for a month and ran from September 3, 2013 until September 26, 2013. The training was provided by ten different instructors from the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office. It included overviews of all of the different divisions of the Sheriff’s Office and examples of the day to day operations of each of them.

“I think that this class was a great success,” stated Sheriff Grey. “The students consisted of a good group of people, that were interested in what their Sheriff’s Office is doing for them. We were able to educate them on what our office is doing for the people of Mercer County on a daily basis. I believe that they walked away knowing a lot more about the Sheriff’s Office and how we differ from other law enforcement agencies. The initial feedback from the students was very positive. We are going to review the program and will evaluate the possibility of having another class in 2014.”