The Berrien County Sheriff’s Department is welcoming the graduation of four deputies from training academies.

Sheriff Chuck Heit tells us Deputy Destiny Russell and Deputy Jacob Sherrick graduated from a local corrections officer training academy held at the Genessee County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday. Also, Deputy Brandon Rath and Deputy Lucas Runser graduated from the 2024 Lake Michigan College Police Academy on Wednesday.

Heit says the recruits distinguished themselves in training.

“I’m just very proud of the four,” Heit said. “They did exceptionally well. Deputy Russell was voted to be the class speaker and also had Academic Excellence for the DOC Academy and the staff there gave highlights of both the deputies that attended. And then Deputy Runser won the Top Gun award and Deputy Rath won the Emergency Vehicle Operations Award.”

The local corrections officer training academy is a 160-hour program, and the LMC Police Academy is a 16-week program that offers training to get new officers licensed through that Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards, or MCOLES.

This week’s graduation at LMC was for the first police academy the college has held since 1982. A total of 14 recruits for departments all over Southwest Michigan graduated.

Photo: Deputies Rath and Runser with Heit (far right) and Undersheriff Greg Sanders (far left).