The Bradley County Sheriff’s Office is accepting registrations for Class 2 of the Sheriff’s Citizens Academy and the Special Deputy Church Protection Program.  

Applications can be picked up from the sheriff’s office at 2290 Blythe Avenue or downloaded from the sheriff’s website, www.bradleysheriff.com.  Residents of Bradley County can apply for either program.  

The Sheriff’s Citizens Academy meets one night a week for 10 consecutive weeks at the Judicial Center.  Each week participants explore a different aspect of law enforcement under the direction of a BCSO staff member. During the class participants will be given the opportunity to ride along with a patrol deputy on his or her shift.  

Topics to be covered include patrol functions, the 9-1-1 center, school based policing, professional development, SWAT operations, criminal investigations, corrections, use of force and firearms safety.  Each session is “hands-on” and should last 2 – 3 hours. This provides an opportunity for citizens to learn first-hand about law enforcement and specifically the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office. 

The Special Deputy Church Protection Program is also accepting applications.  

Conceived by Sheriff Tim Gobble in late 2007 after violent acts occurred in several houses of worship across the country, the Special Deputy Church Protection Program is believed to be the only of its kind in the US.  Participants must meet all minimum qualifications and training requirements in state law but are they are not be required to attend a police academy. Training provided by the BCSO staff consists of 80 hours of instruction the first year after they are accepted and 40 hours each year thereafter.   

Any church desiring special deputies under this program must request the appointment of well-known, regularly attending members in good standing, who are trustworthy, mature and responsible.  The church elders or other church governing body must sponsor the candidates in writing.  Because of training requirements this program is currently limited to two participants per church and the organization must meet IRS 501 ( c) (3)  requirements. The church must have a physical meeting location for at least the last 12 months and an attendance of at least 50 people.  The BCSO will make the final determination as to acceptance into this program.  

Participants in the Citizens Academy and the Special Deputy Church Protection Program are subject to a criminal history check before they are accepted. You can find additional information on both programs by logging onto the sheriff’s website www.bradleysheriff.com.

William Tanner Prater was ordered Monday to serve 5 years and 3 months in a federal correctional facility completing a successful Project Safe Neighborhoods prosecution by the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.   

Prater was sentenced in Chattanooga by U.S. District Court Judge Harry S. “Sandy” Mattice on his earlier guilty plea to weapons and narcotics violations. As part of his sentence, Prater will have 36 months of supervision after his release from prison.  

The arrest of Prater and others was the result of undercover buys of meth that took place in the summer of 2009 and ultimately led to the execution of a search warrant in July by BCSO’s Drug Enforcement Unit at an apartment on Collegeview Drive.  

Detectives entered the residence and found several individuals involved in the manufacture of meth. 

Sheriff Tim Gobble said Project Safe Neighborhoods is helping to make our community safer imposing lengthy sentences on some of our most violent offenders.