By Don Lehman
The Post-Star
QUEENSBURY — A number of local counties have banded together to start their own corrections officers training academy to save time and money typically spent to send officer candidates to training outside the area.
The academy has been held in recent months inside Warren County Jail, with would-be county jail officers going to a classroom just feet from one of the jail’s inmate pods.
Warren County Sheriff Bud York said the decision made sense financially. Also, it’s a feather in the cap of his staff to have enough trained instructors to host the academy, he said.
“Instead of sending our people to the Albany area, we are doing the training here in-house,” he said. “It’s an incentive for our people to be able to do the training.”
Holding the training locally also allows the department to fill openings more quickly, because the county does not have to rely on the training schedule in other counties.
Corrections Sgt. Wayne Farmer has been in charge of the training in Warren County.
York said Washington County and Schenectady County had prospective correction officers in a training session that has been going on at Warren County Jail in recent weeks.
Washington County Sheriff Jeff Murphy said holding the academy locally has a number of cost benefits.
His agency has also held training academies for corrections officers at the county jail to avoid having to travel to the regional academy that has been held in Schenectady County.
“We have people who are certified instructors who can do the training here,” he said.