COWETA COUNTY, Ga. — Departments across the country continue to struggle to fill hundreds of law enforcement jobs.
But one county is fighting against that trend.
“He walked up to me asking about a product,” Sara Vega told Channel 2′s Candace McCowan.
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One day while working at a local Home Depot, Vega found herself helping this couple.
Vega had no idea who the sheriff was, but the interaction landed Vega at the Coweta County Jail. Not as an inmate but as a jailer.
“He asked me if I was interested in applying for the sheriff’s department and I told him I applied but they didn’t contact me,” Vega said. “He took down my information (and) his wife gave me a business card.”
She’s been on the job for seven months at the Coweta County Jail. Vega’s story isn’t uncommon.
“I had another one in a local restaurant,” Sheriff Len Wood said. “He was bussing tables and I got to talking with him.”
Wood, often with his sidekick wife, says when they spot any hard worker they ask the question.
“Hey, you thought about working for the sheriff’s office,” Wood said.
“Sometimes my wife will even punch me and say you going to ask them,” he continued.
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It’s one reason Wood believes the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office and jail recently reached a milestone: They’re fully staffed.
That is something a majority of law enforcement departments across the country can’t say.
“A lot of our job is public service so if you’re a good servant, a good servant leader that’s what I want. I’m (going) to ask you to come and work for me,” Wood said.
The bus boy he came across that day after training...
“He came to work for us and now he’s actually a deputy on patrol and he’s doing really well,” Wood explained.
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The recruiting is contagious.
“I have brought people from different counties. I have gone to jailer school and brought people from different counties,” Vega said. “Why not? This is a career and not just a job.”
Like every department they still have to fill the positions of those who retire, so actively recruiting patrol deputies can’t stop here.
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