Goodyear Police extends recruitment partnership with MCSO

By Delarita Ford
Mail | X: @AzNewsmedia

An intergovernmental agreement between the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and Goodyear Police Department to enroll new recruits in the MCSO detention training academy has been extended through Sept. 30, 2030.

The amended agreement, which was approved on consent at the Goodyear City Council’s Aug. 31 meeting, authorizes the city mayor or designee to oversee and execute documents regarding the agreement.

The IGA also establishes responsibilities for each party, according to a staff report, noting the academy registration will increase from $250 to $1,000 per registrant to participate in the MCSO Detention Officer Basic Training Academy.

Offered on an as-needed basis, the academy is available for other agencies to enroll recruits to be trained. The cost of the new recruits, including fees to attend the MCSO Detention Officer Training Academy, is paid for through the Goodyear Police Department General Fund base budget, as Goodyear Police Chief Brian Issitt previously presented to the council.

The staff report detailed how GYPD uses police assistants as detention officers to assist with detainees. The department wants to maintain the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Training Academy as an option for training police assistants since MCSO is among the few agencies with a detention officer academy.

Another reason why the department wants to keep that arrangement is because not only does the GYPD not have a dedicated academy and relies on other agencies to provide detention training, but neither do other West Valley departments.

The agreement allows the city to send current police assistants, who will be assigned detention and transport duties, to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Detention Training Academy. MCSO offers a Detention Officer Basic Training Academy for detention employees.

Maricopa County also requested the IGA allow MCSO to allocate available positions for training related to detention. The first agreement was approved by council Jan. 10, 2022, the report added.

Delarita Ford can be reached at dford@iniusa.org. Submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.

Delarita Ford
Lead Reporter | Surprise

dford@iniusa.org

Meet Delarita
Delarita Ford originally joined Independent Newspapers Incorporated, now Independent Newsmedia, Inc. USA in 1997, as a general assignment reporter for the Delaware State News daily paper after starting her journalism career in Maryland in 1994, where she honed her skills by writing obituaries, covering community news from births to deaths, education to legislation and more. As a reporter, she has had the opportunity to cover sitting and former U.S. presidential visits in Baltimore, Delaware, and Arizona.

Community: One of the few seasoned journalists who still enjoys covering community events, she can be found with a reporter’s pad taking notes, her phone taking pictures while capturing life’s moments to memorialize them in print for the local newspapers and for the active-adult community where she lives. She maintains a presence with the Black media and the National Association of Black Journalists to encourage peers, socialize, and mentor younger writers.

Education: Life learner who learns from life. Aside from the collegiate education received, she got the best training from on-the-job experience with former editors who went through copy with a red pen and demanded the best writing for hard news and feature stories. 

Random Fact: While a Delaware State News reporter, she could call then Sen. Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, usually late at night if a quote or input was needed for varying topics, including legislation and education.

Hobbies: Adopt rescue dogs and give them a nice home. Continuously read and critique news stories from various platforms.