The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office will add 19 new officers to the Reserve Deputy Bureau this week. The Reserve Deputies will graduate at a ceremony this Wednesday night.

“We are pleased to graduate these Deputies. These Deputies are to be commended for their efforts to serve our community by working as volunteer officers,” said Shelby County Sheriff Mark H. Luttrell, Jr.

For the past 26 weeks, the Deputies have been part of a rigorous training course which included firearms training, physical agility, and Sheriff’s Office policies and procedures. Reserve Deputies receive the same training as full-time officers. The new Deputies will be assigned to the Patrol Division.

The graduation ceremony will be held Wednesday night, December 19, 2007, at Bartlett Performing Arts Center, 3663 Appling road, Bartlett, Tennessee, at 7 p.m.

With the addition of the new officers, there will be 167 Reserve Deputies serving with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.

To be a Reserve Deputy, each officer is required to work at least 24 hours a month, which includes two assigned shifts and one special assignment shift.

Along with the 19 Shelby County Reserve Deputies, five other officers graduated from the training academy.

They will serve as full-time or reserve deputies at Bartlett, Mason, Munford and Rossville Police Departments.