NYC Sheriff's academy graduation delayed because instructors weren't certified

Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News on Jul 11, 2025

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Training for dozens of recruits hoping to be New York City deputy sheriffs was thrown into chaos after the Department of Investigation determined the academy’s instructors responsible for investigation and firearms training weren’t certified by the state, The New York Daily News has learned.

After being delayed for more than three weeks, the graduation for more than 80 sheriff cadets — ballyhooed as the largest academy class in the agency’s history — is scheduled for Saturday at the NYPD Police Academy in Queens.

But with graduation a day away, the sheriff’s office was still trying to finalize recruit background checks — since the sheriff’s office swore in their academy class in February, the DOI received three complaints that academy instructors weren’t certified by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services.

The DOI began its investigation on March 12 and asked the sheriff’s office for a copy of the academy curriculum and a list of instructors.

“Despite numerous follow-ups, the sheriffs office did not provide the requested documents,” the DOI said in its letter, adding that they finally had to get them through the state Division of Criminal Justice Services.

Following its investigation, which included interviewing the recruits and the instructors and checking the instructors credentials, DOI determined the instructors were not trained “in the presence of a master instructor, rendering the certifications issued to them invalid,” according to a letter the DOI sent to New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda and city Department of Finance Commissioner Preston Niblack dated June 17.

At the time the DOI rendered their findings, recruits were expected to graduate on June 24, officials said.

The date was extended as the agency scrambled to get the appropriate accreditations, get certified instructors and retrain the recruits, agency sources told the Daily News.

More than a dozen of the recruits spent this past week at the New York Police Department range in Rodman’s Neck to make sure they’re certified on firearms before the graduation, the sources said. Some will also continue training after the graduation ceremony.

In their letter to the sheriff’s office, the DOI recommended that the agency conduct audits of their academy training to make sure it’s up to DCJS standards, immediately recertify its instructors and “work with DCJS to ensure that the deputy sheriffs in the 2025 training academy are certified in accordance with the DCJS requirements.”

The agency should also “require written approval from the DCJS confirming eligibility for both instructors and course methods.”

“Verbal authorization should no longer be accepted,” the DOI said.

The sheriff’s office took the DOI recommendations to heart, and are “taking all necessary steps to ensure compliance with all regulations set by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services,” an agency spokesman said.

“Thanks to this administration the Sheriff’s Office will be graduating the largest class of recruits ever,” the spokesman said. “The Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Finance are committed to upholding the highest standards of law enforcement training.”

DCJS spokeswoman Janine Kava said that the sheriff’s office “retrained its recruits to ensure that they received the proper training to graduate.”

“DCJS will issue certificates of completion for those recruits upon receiving final documentation from the Sheriff’s Office,” Kava said.

Deputy sheriffs are responsible for executing eviction notices, orders of protection, and investigating financial and tax fraud. When Mayor Eric Adams appointed Miranda, the sheriff’s office was tasked with also inspecting illegal cannabis shops in the city but a recent court ruling has curbed that work.

Questions about the sheriff’s academy class came as the NYPD took steps to terminate 30 of its probationary officers who should have been disqualified by background checks.