Earlier this month Livingston County Deputy Sheriff Adam Wynne and Deputy Sheriff Caleb Smith attended a week long advanced training being Emergency Vehicle Operations Course (EVOC) at the Missouri State Highway Patrol Academy in Jefferson City.

This course teaches life-long enhanced driving skills and very important areas for law enforcement to maximize their abilities and minimize risks and liability.

Deputy Caleb Smith gave the following description of this course:

"A main part of EVOC is learning how much your vehicle can really do. The instructors wanted us to go roughly 85-90% of our driving capabilities. When you are driving at near 100%, you may start to think that your vehicle will flip over or lose control. However, the course really taught us that our vehicles can do incredible things and will perform as long as you yourself are confident. The week was a mix of obstacle avoidance, slow-speed maneuvering (alleyways, backing, parking, etc.), pursuit driving, and everyday response techniques for driving. I think my favorite part of the week was the nighttime pursuits. This allowed us to learn better ways of keeping up with a vehicle that isn't stopping for you while at the same time choosing the preferred driving path, calling out locations and violations, and avoiding obstacles. I thought the course was very beneficial-- not only as a deputy, but also in day-to-day driving while off duty. It really made me more confident by knowing that if I were to come across a sudden obstacle in the roadway or if I started to lose control of my vehicle I would be able to identify what the issue is and have a much better chance of correcting myself or avoiding the obstacle."

We are very proud to have both Deputy Smith and Deputy Wynne on our team.

Sheriff Steve Cox