Lowndes Co. Sheriff’s Office graduates 13 new correctional officers
LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – It may be one of the most thankless, but necessary, jobs in law enforcement: being a correctional officer.
After the officers and deputies arrest someone, it’s up to these men and women to watch over them until they bond out or serve their time.
Today, 13 more of these officers are ready to take their posts.
The Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office has become a local training center for correctional officers.
These future guards have to go through two and a half weeks of intensive training.
Lowndes County Sheriff Eddie Hawkins said it’s a tough job because you’re having to enforce rules on people who don’t like to follow the rules.
Hawkins said it also takes the right kind of person to handle the responsibilities.
“The inmates we’re dealing with on a daily basis now are much more difficult than they used to be, with the younger generation that has no respect for law enforcement or authority. It’s very difficult dealing with these types of inmates, so it takes a special person to be able to,” said Hawkins.
“Well, I look at it as inmates, they’re not inmates. They’re people. They’re human. They make mistakes, too. So, I want to do this to be a mentor to those in jail,” said Deputy Antavieon Hicks, Noxubee County Sheriff’s Office.
Graduates from this class will be going on to work in Lowndes, Clay, Noxubee, and Oktibbeha Counties.
