Ortiz presents training for new jail, corrections officers

Cisco Ortiz, chair of Trine University’s Department of Criminal Justice, recently was a guest presenter at a training program for new jail officers in the region.

The Steuben County Sheriff’s Office hosted an Indiana Law Enforcement Academy’s Basic Jail Officer School, where eight newly hired jail and corrections officers from Steuben, DeKalb and LaGrange counties received training in various topics. According to the ILEA website, the minimum 40-hour Jail Officers School is a part of the academy's ongoing mandatory training.

All jail officers from county sheriff's offices throughout Indiana must successfully complete the jail officer training within a year of their appointment date. Areas of classroom discussion include legal considerations from intake to release, jail security, medical considerations, suicide prevention, abnormal behavior in inmates, admissions and booking, stress management, and Indiana Department of Corrections procedures and relationships to inmates and jails.

The course is designed to provide new jail officers with the basic information necessary to allow them to function in their facilities, and is intended to be supplemented by annual in-service training provided by their respective departments.

Ortiz presented courses on Cultural Diversity/Awareness and Effective Communication. Ortiz is a former instructor for the Indiana Sheriff’s Association’s Advance Jail Officer Training program.