VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Keeping law enforcement agencies staffed has become a nationwide issue.

According to the police executive research forum, in 2023, 69% of agencies saw not only an increase in retirements and resignations, but also a drop in the number of applications for full-time positions.

But in Volusia County, they’ve found a way out of this problem with the Sheriff's Office training academy.

The agency is on its sixth training class, where recruits are learning how to conduct felony traffic stops.

It’s a first for deputy recruit Megan Dame, who is being coached through a simulation by state certified instructors before she graduates and hits the streets.  

“This is going to be us in two months,” said Dame.

Originally from Kansas, it’s always been her dream to protect and serve. After doing some research, she decided Volusia County was the best place for her to do that.

“It’s a great place, they have their own academy, they show you have to do it by the book, and then they give you extra to show you how to do it in Volusia," Dame said. "Some places it is just, 'Here you go.' Here, they give you extra time, they really put in effort and like training like this to show you what to do, how to critique it a little bit."

That is a point of pride for Sheriff Mike Chitwood, who got approval to start the academy in 2021.

“More than anything else in your career, that is what you are going to do, you are going to stop cars," he told recruits. "And I don’t care what assignment you are in, you could be in the detective division, you could be in narcotics, you could be anywhere and you are going to stop a car."

Since then, more than 100 recruits have gone through the nationally accredited program, where he’s added about 500 hours of training on top of the state’s curriculum.

“We are training the Volusia way, the way our community and me as our sheriff expect us to do our jobs,” said Chitwood.

At the academy, the recruits are part of VCSO as soon as they walk through the door. That means they are part of the pension plan, have medical coverage and are being paid. Chitwood says that’s been a huge factor in filling their vacancies, an issue they’ve dealt with for years and plagues departments across the country.

“And of course the governor, with last year’s (bill), where there is a $5,000 incentive to come down to Florida, there is a tuition incentive if you bring your family down, school choice comes out of that, there are so many perks that we are probably one of the very few agencies that don’t have many vacancies," the sheriff said.

"I have a handful of vacancies. When this started I had over 80, we were pushing 90 vacancies.,” said Chitwood. “It’s kind of hard to do your job when you have 512 sworn and we have 90 vacancies.”

Dame shared that was one of the big reasons behind her choosing to enroll here, selecting Volusia County as the place she wants to raise her family and grow her career for years to come. 

“Here it seems like they really care, they want you to be here as much as you want to be here, you prove yourself, they prove that they want you here to be the best of the best and make you try to be the best deputy that you could possibly be,” said Dame.

VCSO is one of 35 departments in the country to be nationally accredited in their academy, communications, and organization.

Chitwood shared that in the future they are looking to open their trainings to other departments across the county.