An education in law enforcement
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ST. CLAIRSVILLE -- Six Belmont County students got an in-depth look at law enforcement over the past few months and completed the sheriff's office's inaugural class of the Law Enforcement Post 7 Exploring Program.
The students attended a graduation with family members Tuesday at the Belmont County Sheriff's Office. The classes began in October and concluded recently.
Participants included: Jesika Henderson, 16, of Shadyside, a student at St. John Central Academy in Bellaire; Dalton Henderson of Shadyside, a freshman at St. John; Addison Galownia, 16, of Bridgeport, a student at Bridgeport High School; Nathan Galownia, 14, of Bridgeport and a student at BHS; Ana Abernethy, 16, of Shadyside, a student at Shadyside High School; and Makayla Mcfeley, 16, of Bellaire, a student at Bellaire High School.
The goals of the program are to foster personal awareness of the criminal justice system and to promote "personal growth through character development, respect for the rule of law, physical fitness, good citizenship and patriotism."
Sheriff David Lucas spoke to the graduates, noting the importance of maintaining the high standard of police officers.
"You are our future, and we wanted to show the actual inside working of the sheriff's office. Dedicated law enforcement officers do not tolerate officers who should not wear the badge. Good cops do not want to work with bad cops," Lucas said.
Lucas also emphasized the importance of citizens' compliance and cooperation with law enforcement to avoid escalating a situation, as well as to allow thorough investigation of every element surrounding an incident.
"Every use of force, deadly or otherwise, needs to be objectively and factually reviewed from the perspective of the officer at the time of the incident," Lucas said. "Officers need to make split-second decisions under less-than-optimum conditions."
He recalled his childhood growing up in Somerton and his career in law enforcement. He told the graduates to continue on with their vision and hard work.
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, spoke to each graduate individually via Zoom and commended them for their work. Several students expressed the desire to pursue a career in law enforcement or a related field.
Brown also mentioned the day's high-profile guilty verdict for Derek Chauvin, a former police officer charged with murder and manslughter in the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
"Today obviously is an important day in our history," Brown said, adding that the lion's share of attention is usually paid to negative interactions with law enforcement. "Really good police officers, which is most of you, don't get much publicity, only when doing something wrong."
Some of the students described their career goals.
"I want to join the FBI for forensic biology. I thought (the program would) help me get where I want to go," Mcfeley said, adding that the program covered gun laws and operation, first aid and the appropriate situations for the use of deadly force. "I really liked doing most of the things with forensic scientists over Zoom. I really liked doing that, because we talked about different cases and how the cases turned out and what the evidence was."
"Everything was interesting," Dalton Henderson said, adding he enjoyed the portions that focused on investigating crime scenes.
Jail Administrator Stanley Galownia, father of Addison and Nathan, said he was proud of both his children and their interest in his 30-year career, as well as his oldest son, Christopher, who now works as a sergeant at the jail.
"My two youngest children, Addison and Nathan ... they have a desire to learn more about what law enforcement does, what we're about and the changes that are going on within our own communities, locally and across the country. They chose to join the Explorer's program and successfully made it to today."
The Law Enforcement Exploring Program is offered in collaboration with the Ohio River Valley Council of Boy Scouts of America and is available for youths ages 16-21 who have completed eighth grade and who have an interest in law enforcement and the criminal justice system. Lucas said another Exploring class likely will be held in the fall, as well as a possible class for other citizens.