RivCo training academy closes after recruits test positive for COVID-19
RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif. — In the wake of several recruits testing positive for COVID-19, the Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, which offers comprehensive law enforcement, fire, and correctional custody public safety training for law enforcement and fire agencies throughout California, recently announced that the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department had temporarily suspended their academy training program.
Although officials have made no connections, the announcement comes on the heels of the death of one of the academy’s recruits early last August, as well as the COVID-19 related deaths of two of their department members; including Deputies Terrell Young and Dave Werksman, who both died of COVID-19 complications within hours of each other last April.
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Since the agency’s Thursday, Nov. 19 announcement, Riverside Sheriff’s Sergeant Albert Martinez has said the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is and will continue working with Public Health and following the appropriate isolation and quarantine measures for their staff and recruits.
“In an effort to mitigate further exposure to COVID-19, the Ben Clark Training Center is closed to the public and all academy staff has been reduced, allowing non-critical staff to telecommute,” Martinez explained. “During this suspension, the department will be thoroughly disinfecting the academy and any area in which the staff and recruits have access.”
Once training resumes, recruits will continue the following practices in an effort to slow the spread; including social distancing, daily temperature checks, masks mandated at all times unless performing physical activity, cleaning and disinfecting classroom areas and hand-washing during every break, according to the Sergeant.
“The Department will also modify its future recruit testing and training schedules to accommodate social distancing restrictions,” said Martinez.
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Trevor Montgomery, 49, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, (the now defunct) Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and Mountain Echo in Shasta County.
Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.