VBSO holds 56th Basic Academy Class graduation

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office (VBSO) today held its 56th Basic Academy Class graduation, recognizing 10 deputy recruits’ successful completion of training. It was the first Basic Academy Class to graduate under Sheriff Rocky Holcomb.

Family, friends and city leadership, including Mayor Bobby Dyer, attended the ceremony at Virginia Beach City Hall. Virginia Beach City Councilman Michael Berlucchi gave the keynote address, thanking the graduates for dedicating their careers to public safety and promising to support them along the way.

“Virginia Beach is consistently named as the safest city of our size in the country … and we’re able to reach that recognition and that distinction because of the professionalism and the capabilities of all public safety professionals in Virginia Beach, people who are willing to at times risk their own safety in order to protect ours,” said Berlucchi. “And I can think of no higher vocation, no higher profession, than choosing one that protects innocent people, and that's the profession that each of you have now entered and chosen as your own. I applaud you for it and I thank you for it.”

Holcomb remarked on the rigors of the VBSO’s training curriculum and his pride in the graduates.

“I say to each of you as you go forward in your career: be brave, be bold and be fearless in this noble profession you have chosen,” said Holcomb. “Congratulations to each of you. May you have a long and successful career, and let me be the first one to welcome you to the ranks of the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office and, if I say so myself, the finest sheriff’s office in all of the commonwealth.”

The 17-week VBSO Basic Academy includes training in Virginia law, arrest procedures, ethics, cultural diversity, firearms, defensive tactics, emergency vehicle operations, first aid, crisis intervention (mental health) and more, spanning 80 classes and 500 hours. The graduates also complete rigorous physical fitness training and courses pertaining to the sheriff’s office’s core operations: Corrections, Court Transportation and Security, and Civil Process. They each successfully met the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services requirements for graduation and have earned their Basic Jailer, Court Security and Civil Process certifications.

The deputies will be assigned to the Virginia Beach Correctional Center and bring the number of active, sworn VBSO deputies to 407.

The graduation was live streamed on Facebook and can be viewed at facebook.com/vbsheriffsoffice.

The VBSO is hiring deputy sheriff recruits. The starting salary is $49,542, which increases to $52,020 after graduation from the Basic Academy, plus benefits. Interested applicants should apply by Feb. 28, 2023, at vbgovcareers.com. Additional information is available at vbso.net/sworn-positions.

Media contact: Email pio@vbso.net or contact Public Information Officer Toni Guagenti at 757-373-5012 or Strategic Communications Consultant Kathy Hieatt at 757-570-9123.