The new deputies are Vaughn Apel, a Greenon graduate; Jessica Trimble, a Springfield High School graduate; and Zachary Davis, Ami Oliver and Zachary Massie, all Shawnee graduates.
“The competition is tough out there right now,” Kelly said about recruiting women and minorities into law enforcement positions.
Of five women who applied for deputy slots in Clark County, he said, three took offers in other law enforcement departments in the area.
Female deputies are needed in key roles in the department, Kelly said, such as supervising female inmates in the jail.
All of the deputies who were sworn in during a ceremony Monday will start their training and begin working in the jail, Kelly said, before they can apply to be on the road.
Many road deputy positions will open soon, he added, because of internal promotions that soon will be announced.
The sheriff’s office recruits many of their new deputies from local law enforcement training programs, such as Clark State Community College, which has many students who grew up in the area.
It’s a benefit that new deputies know the community in which they will serve, Kelly said.
“They are all have roots here and that’s what I look for,” he said. “I really feel that to serve a community, you have to be part of a community.”
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