By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Five cadets have begun their law enforcement journeys with enrollment in the 2025 Class of the Val Verde Sheriff’s Academy.
Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez spoke to The 830 Times about the new academy on Friday.
“This is our first academy under our new training coordinator, Sgt. Mike Cardenas. We have five cadets going through it, four men and one woman, and
watchful eye of training coordinator Sgt. Mike Cardenas, left, during the cadets’ initial
physical fitness assessment. Cardenas said the assessment will allow him to track the
cadets’ progress. (Photo by Karen Gleason)
I feel that they are all
good cadets. We’re eager to get them going, and hopefully they’ll be successful as they go through the academy,” Martinez said.
VVSO Chief Deputy Joe Ortiz said the cadets are tentatively expected to graduate
sometime in the late summer.
The new cadets are Jesse Barragan, Fernanda Morris, Richard Munoz, Ricardo Perez and Jose Tovar.
Ortiz said the cadets will go through the basic peace officer course, which includes more than 730 hours of instruction in a wide-ranging array of topics like professional police practices; constitutional law, criminal law and the criminal justice system; illegal substances and special regulations; family, children and victims of crime; traffic regulation; communication/language; use of force; special populations; arrest procedures; criminal investigations; vehicle operation; patrol operation; medical; weapons; all hazards training and active shooter response.
The new cadets went through their initial physical fitness assessment on Friday, to set baselines by which to measure their improvements over the coming months, Ortiz said.
Richard Munoz, Fernanda Morris, Ricardo Perez and Jesse Barragan. The cadets will
graduate from the academy sometime in September, Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez said.
(Photo by Karen Gleason)
Martinez said the sheriff’s office has hired the five cadets who are now going through the academy, and the five will become sheriff’s deputies once they complete their academy
training and successfully master their state test for licensing by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE).
After becoming commissioned as Texas peace officers, the cadets will also spend time in a field-training program and will ride with a field-training officer.
“It depends on how quick they catch on and how quick they advance before they’re released on their own, generally three to four months,” Martinez said.
Ortiz added the state mandates that every law enforcement agency that runs an academy is required to have an ancillary field-training program.
“In the field-training program, they’ll be graded every week as to their progress,” Ortiz said.
Martinez said with the five new cadets, most of his vacancies in patrol will be filled, but the sheriff added he still has about 12 vacancies in other departments within the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff noted he and his staff are actively working to fill those positions as well.
“We’re looking at people that are already commissioned by TCOLE, looking to fill a spot or two,” Martinez said.
Martinez, Ortiz and VVSO Lt. Gina Garcia, who heads the sheriff’s office’s new headquarters/special operations division that includes the academy, spoke about how training has evolved over the years since they went through their own.
Martinez and Garcia started their careers by completing the Del Rio Police Department Academy and Ortiz the Texas Department of Safety Academy.
Garcia said the biggest change she has seen in the technology now available to prospective law enforcers.
“Now you ask them to bring their laptops and everything is online, but back then we got a big binder with 300-something pages along with our law books, and we were carrying
books everywhere. Now everything is on a USB drive, and you can take your notes on your laptop,” Garcia said.
“I think technology has made their learning a little bit easier,” the lieutenant added.
Martinez said, “Back in 1977, when I went through the academy, we were required to have 240 hours, and now, the cadets have to get more than 700 hours, and that’s just the basics.”
Ortiz added, “Law enforcement over years has gotten better at teaching the things officers need to be professionals out there. We got the basics, and we were told, ‘Okay, go out there and patrol.’ Today our training is far better than what it was, so the men and women are much better trained to do the job and better prepared for what they might encounter.”
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com .
