Here are the 22 new Bristol County Corrections Officers that graduated this week

DARTMOUTH – Five minutes isn’t a long time, but on a brisk morning this past April, it felt like an eternity for Jacob Kane.

It was the first day of the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office Corrections Officers academy, and Kane was running a few minutes late. Corrections Officer Curtis Mateus, an 11-year veteran of the BCSO who is a drill instructor for the training academy, told the tardy Kane that you only get one chance to make a first impression, and asked him if that’s how he is going to be remembered at the BCSO.

“The next day I showed up an hour early,” Kane said. “I wanted to be the best for myself and the best for my brothers and sisters in the academy.”

Kane proved to be among the best, earning a 96.1 grade average over the nine-week training program and joining Jennifer Cabral as valedictorians of the 54th graduating class of the Bristol County Corrections Officers academy. A total of 22 new Corrections Officers graduated Wednesday night during a ceremony at Westport High School in front of family and friends.

Sadly, Kane’s father was not in attendance. As he shared during his valedictorian speech Wednesday night, his father, who went to prison when Kane was 9 years old and was released five years later, died in 2018 after a battle with cancer.

“He came out (of prison) a completely new person. From the programs he attended, he came out free from drugs and alcohol. From that day, I knew I wanted to make a difference,” Kane said. “I wish he could see me today.”

Kane and the rest of the graduates took the oath of office from Sheriff Paul Heroux and received their badges to loud applause from the crowd in the school’s auditorium. The 22 new Corrections Officers are the largest graduating class since early 2018.

This graduating class is the first academy that was extended to nine weeks instead than eight. It featured additional training in de-escalation, implicit bias, defensive tactics, duty to intervene, dealing with mental illness, report writing, and more.

“I’d like to think you are the best-trained class that has ever graduated from the BCSO training academy. The previous academy was eight weeks. You attended nine weeks,” Sheriff Heroux said Wednesday night. “You will succeed if you remember that the public safety work you are doing is not about you, but about the people you are serving.”

The crowd also got to see a 10-minute preview of Lt. David Botelho’s documentary about the training academy. Lt. Botelho has been shadowing the class since the first day and is currently putting the finishing touches on a piece that will give the public an inside look at the training a corrections officer goes through.

The graduates of the 54th Corrections Officers academy are Ronald Apollon, Haeley Burchell, Jennifer Cabral, Richard Camara, Brittany Correia, Ahmaad DaRosa, Jared Furtado, Jefferson Gedral, James Hook, Jacob Kane, Jenneffer Lang, Yvens Lesperance, Zachary Levesque, Mollie Mayer, David McGrath, Stephanie Morales, Djensen Noel, Jacob Raposo, Brendan Smith, Aubrey Sylvia, Cody Tai, and Nariah Todman. Class officers were Burchell (president), Morales (vice president and squad leader), Sylvia (secretary), Lang (treasurer), Raposo (squad leader), and Correia (platoon leader). Academy Director Lt. Robert Matos, Sgt. Amanda Custodio, Officer Stephen Aranda, and Mateus led them through training.

In her speech as platoon leader, Correia said the graduates grew closer and closer as a team throughout the academy with things like group texts and study guides for exams.

“When it’s all set and done, I wouldn’t trade any of you if this academy for anything,” she said before offering some advice to her classmates. “Don’t compare yourself to everyone. The only person you should be trying to beat is the person you were yesterday.”

The next academy is already enrolling and is scheduled to start later this year offering a $5,000 signing bonus and state pension. New Officers can earn $75,000+ with incentives and overtime. Reach out to recruitment@bcso-ma.org for details or to ask questions and visit www.bcso-ma.us/employment to apply.