Sheriff’s Office Junior Deputy Academy allows 10-13 year-olds to view weaponry, equipment and vehicles used by SWAT team members, bomb squad and department in general

Posted: June 23rd, 2015 | Filed under: News Releases
Lt. Raymond Theriot helps place a gas mask on a participant.

Lt. Raymond Theriot helps place a gas mask on a participant.
Junior Deputy Academy participants stand to examine the department's bomb robot, used to check suspicious items.

Junior Deputy Academy participants stand to
examine the department’s bomb robot, used to check suspicious items.
Steve Ingargiola of the bomb squad places bomb squad clothing on participant Eric Wickboldt of Chalmette.

Steve Ingargiola of the bomb squad places bomb squad clothing on participant Eric Wickboldt of Chalmette.
Participant Jonathan Bartholomew of Meraux wears a bomb squad helmet.

Participant Jonathan Bartholomew of Meraux wears a bomb squad helmet.
Junior Deputy Academy participants examine weapons and projectiles laid out in:the Sheriff's Office Training Center. Behind them, from left, are officers Lt. Raymond Theriot, Lt. Mike Ingargiola and Det. Sgt. Donald Johnson, a SWAT team member.

Junior Deputy Academy participants examine weapons and projectiles laid out in:the Sheriff’s Office Training Center. Behind them, from left, are officers Lt. Raymond Theriot, Lt. Mike Ingargiola and Det. Sgt. Donald Johnson, a SWAT team member.

Children taking the Sheriff’s Office free Junior Deputy Academy got to view weaponry, equipment and vehicles used by SWAT team members, the bomb squad and the department in general.

Under a program started by Sheriff James Pohlmann, participants ages 10-13 are taking a course that runs through graduation on July 22. They are hearing from various divisions of the Sheriff’s Office and being introduced to various functions that impact the parish.

But on June 23 the group of more than 30 boys and girls in the Junior Deputy Academy got an inside look at the state-of-the-art weapons, vehicles and equipment used by the SWAT team, the department’s bomb squad and other officers in general.

The SWAT team, led by Maj. Robert McNab, demonstrated guns and equipment, bomb squad members showed a bomb robot used to check suspicious items and equipment members wear, and the department’s mobile command post and a truck were displayed.

In further sessions, there will be field trips to the Parish Prison and firearms safety taught at a shooting range, as well as lessons in basic first aid and CPR.

The academy, coordinated by Capt. Charles Borchers and Dep. Sheriff Eric Eilers, is patterned after the Sheriff’s Office free Citizens Police Academy for adults, which begins in late August. Register for the adult version by calling Capt. Borchers at (504) 278-7628.