10 St. Bernard deputies and three officers from other departments graduate 90-hour course in Chalmette dealing with working in a corrections environment

Ten St. Bernard Parish sheriff’s deputies and three officers from other departments graduated Aug. 5 after a 90-hour Corrections Division course in Peace Officers Standards and Training, or P.O.S.T., dealing with working in a prison environment or Juvenile Detention Center, Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

P.O.S.T. Corrections is aimed at preparing deputies for their careers in Corrections. Topics covered in the training include defensive tactics, use of pepper spray which involved each officer being pepper-sprayed to deal with its effects, booking procedures, writing reports and other aspects of working in corrections. A new element of the class is the inclusion of a use of force lesson plan.

The course was given by instructors from the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office Corrections Division and was held at the Sheriff’s Office Training Center in Chalmette.

Shown are members of the class and an instructor from the Corrections Division: from left standing, Lt. Dennis Morgan, a Master P.O.S.T. instructor; St. Bernard officers Cpl. Melba Sue Garcia, Dep. Johnny White, Dep. April Doane, Dep. Sean Williams. Dep. William Serigne, Dep. Brandon Domino, Dep. Collin Mills, Dep. John Laylle, Dep. Stacey Jordan and Dep. Nikolaos Stafford

Kneeling from left are officers Devon Ferguson and Nicole Dupuy, both of the Slidell Police Department; and Dep. Errol Ragas of the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Not pictured are Master P.O.S.T. instructor Cpl. Brandon Lewis and Capt. Adrian Chalona, who also instructed the class.