The young women and men stand at attention in their crisp gray uniforms, a four inch thick book of Florida State Statutes in one hand, their official Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) notebook in their left front pants pocket as their corporal inspects them. Aside from one slightly askew gig line there are no major uniform violations and the cadets breathe a sigh of relief. A violation means extra physical training, not just for the offender but for every member of Cadets Unit #900.
“What one does we all do,” said Cadet Corporal Abdullah Khaleel. They are young women and men from age 14 to 20. Some were born in Pinellas; one comes from Belarus. They come from a variety of backgrounds and have diverse career goals – they want to be law enforcement officers, forensic scientists, veterinarians, and lawyers. But above all other things, the cadets are a team.
“Here, everybody is accepted,” said Cadets Mentor (and School Resource Officer) Deputy Elonda Zinge. “Everybody supports and helps each other. The group doesn’t have cliques. We are one cohesive unit.”
“This is a leadership development program,” said Cadets Mentor (and member of the School Guardian Unit) Deputy Chris Jones. “If we get an outstanding deputy out of this, that’s a plus. But if we produce a fine upstanding citizen that’s good too. That’s our main goal.”
Several of the cadets said that the program helped bring them out of their shell. They may have started out shy, but a year later they are able to talk to anyone, speak in front of an audience, and teach skills to newer members. There is a rank system, and at a recent meeting the members who had achieved the rank of corporal led some of the activities, including the warm-ups in the mat room. While cadets suffered through planks and wall sits, the corporals distracted them with conversation to keep their minds off their trembling muscles.
While cadets learn about structure, discipline, and leadership, they also have a lot of fun. They get to practice many of the same things a deputy does, learning through a combination of classroom instruction and scenario training. They may learn to conduct felony traffic stops, put a suspect in handcuffs, search a vehicle, or provide first aid. Once a week they go to the PCSO range to practice marksmanship. Some of the cadets are part of the drill team or honor guard. They get to test their skills at local, state, and national competitions.
Cadets Mentor (and School Resource Officer) Deputy George Smalios said that at last year’s state competition the cadets tied for first place. Unfortunately they lost the tiebreaker, where a random scenario the teams already completed was chosen as the deciding factor. Cadets go into the competition having no idea what they’ll encounter. It could be firearms, policy tests, an in-progress call – anything. Cadets learn to think on the fly and work as a team in all situations.
Cadets find out about the program in a variety of ways. Savannah Stophel learned about the cadets from the Sheriff’s Teen Citizens Academy, a four-week program that gives young people an introduction to the PCSO. Vlad Dainiak had heard about a similar program when he was living in New York and when he moved to Florida he asked his school resource officer if they had something like it here. He has been involved for about a year and likes it so much that he recruited his friend Timur Sedykh to join. Timur attends Admiral Farragut Academy so the training and discipline come naturally to him. He’s interested in being a law enforcement officer or maybe a lawyer. Either way, the cadets program will serve him well.
Members have to take a test before they can become active cadets and get their uniform. The test covers everything from the unit’s structure and standards to PCSO policy, the phonetic alphabet, state statutes, and the special language of 10 codes and signal codes that deputies use to communicate over the radio. There’s a one-time membership fee of $50, but after that the post holds fundraisers to make sure that everything from uniforms to travel for competitions is provided for the cadets free of charge.
At a recent meeting, cadets learned about radio procedure and how to safely direct traffic at an intersection. Although they are never allowed to be in a road themselves, it is a skill that translates to one of the volunteer opportunities many of the cadets participate in. You can find cadets at many PCSO events, working in the parking lot helping citizens park in an orderly fashion. Cadets also worked at this year’s Ride & Run With The Stars, the PCSO’s annual fundraising event to help families in need have a happy holiday season.
