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Program prepares deputy sheriffs for expanded policing role By Ellen P. James
Don Zettlemoyer is director of Penn State’s Justice and Safety Institute. Thirty-seven deputy sheriffs from throughout Pennsylvania attended the first in a series of education and training programs being conducted by the Penn State Justice and Safety Institute. Dick Ackley—University Photo/Graphics	In an effort to further lifelong learning goals of Pennsylvania’s citizens while ensuring a safer Commonwealth, Penn State is offering newly created programs for the education and training of state deputy sheriffs.   The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) has awarded Penn State a contract to deliver basic training to deputy sheriffs from all of Pennsylvania’s 67 county sheriff offices.   “This issue is important for all Pennsylvanians,” Don Zettlemoyer, director of the Penn State Justice and Safety Institute, said. “It is exciting that Penn State has such an important role to play and we’re able to contribute to the process.”   The duties of Pennsylvania’s deputy sheriffs had been generally confined to serving as officers of the court. Deputies provide courtroom security, process and service court documents, enforce court orders and transport criminals. Pennsylvania’s sheriffs have not traditionally served as law enforcement officers. However, this has not been the traditional role of sheriffs in other states, where in addition to serving as officers of the court, they also provide a complete array of police services.   “In Pennsylvania, if a deputy sheriff saw a violation, such as driving under the influence, and took police action, the arrest was likely to be successfully challenged,” Zettlemoyer said.   In fact, it was through a legal challenge of exactly that type of arrest that led to a state Supreme Court ruling that Pennsylvania sheriff deputies can indeed serve as law enforcement officers. The court did add the provision that they must receive comparable training to other state law enforcement officers. This ruling allows sheriffs and counties to determine if they want their deputies to become more proactive in providing law enforcement.   “At the very least, a deputy sheriff, even if he or she is only out serving court papers, will now be able to take police action when confronted with a violation,” Zettlemoyer said.   Until the state Supreme Court ruling, basic training for deputies was provided by The Dickinson School of Law of The Pennsylvania State University and consisted of three weeks of training. Consistent with the state Supreme Court ruling, PCCD issued a request for proposal for a college or university to provide an expanded 15-week basic training program. Dickinson School of Law and the Justice and Safety Institute partnered in responding to the request.   Last December, Penn State was awarded a state contract of $2 million to support the Justice and Safety Institute in training up to 600 deputies a year. This will be accomplished through four 15-week programs and four three-week waiver programs that will attract deputies from all 67 counties in Pennsylvania. Topics in the program will include civil law and procedure, crime code and criminal procedure, emergency vehicle operations, legal issues, ethics and professional development, among others.   Zettlemoyer, whose own law enforcement background is rooted in his time as a municipal police officer in Detroit, Mich., and as a detective lieutenant with the Marquette Michigan Sheriffs Office, views these programs at Penn State as supporting and augmenting local law enforcement.   “Trained deputies with full police powers will result in more protection and enforcement for Pennsylvania’s communities,” he said. “Penn State has a long tradition of delivering continuing justice education programs to law enforcement officials.”   Penn State’s Justice and Safety Institute has a 30-year history in providing training and assessment services to federal, state, county and municipal law enforcement. In addition to Pennsylvania-based law enforcement agencies, the institute is currently working with out-of-state agencies, such as the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police; the El Paso County, Colo., Sheriff’s Office; the Brookline, Mass., Police Department, and the East Brunswick, N.J., Police Department.
© 2002 Outreach Communications,   Outreach & Cooperative Extension,   The Pennsylvania State University phone: (814) 865-8108,   fax: (814) 863-2765,   e-mail: outreachnews@outreach.psu.edu