County Sheriff
Josh Malenius
Cynthia Dorau
Michael Mathison
The role
of Sheriff in the United States is an important one, and encompasses
more roles than many realize. An officer in the Sheriff's department
pays a part in all areas of the criminal justice system. The responsibilities
of Sheriff include the areas of law enforcement, corrections and
court duties. The Sheriff, being an elected official, is essentially
the people's voice in law enforcement. There are also many educational
and training requirements for becoming an officer. In Minnesota,
a candidate must have at least a two year degree and be licensed
by the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board.
We interviewed Lieutenant Deputy Sheriff
Marcus Bruning in his office at the St. Louis County courthouse.
The interview itself was rather casual, consisting of us asking
Lt. Bruning a question and then him proceeding to answer it in
a relaxed fashion with minimal formalities.
Lt. Bruning believes that writing is a very important part of
his job. From writing reports and press releases to a syllabus
for a class he teaches, good writing skills are of great importance
to him. He explained to us that many reports are written within
the department on the activities of the deputies. Also, reports
become very important when they must be upheld in court. They
must convey the atmosphere and all the details important to the
case. Writings are also used for victim programs, treatment and
counseling of the offenders. He also mentioned that writings justify
your actions and that it is incredibly valuable to be able to
write well. Overall, Lt. Bruning has excellent writing skills.
He uses writing everyday and must excel at it.
The interview with Lt. Bruning was a great learning experience.
Many details of the job, including educational requirements and
writing skills, became better known. The job of a county Sheriff
is very demanding and has many requirements. The Sheriff and his
deputies must answer to the community, and if the community is
not happy, they have essentially failed at their job.
Hennepin
County
This link is to the Hennepin County Sheriffs
Department home Web site. It will provide you with useful information,
including information about community volunteer programs and employment
opportunities with in the department. It proved to be a useful
site in finding background information regarding educational and
training requirements while we were researching the role of Sheriff.
The site also provides helpful safety tips and a link to the 10
Most Wanted list. It provides links for the many departments with
in the Sheriffs department and also links you to the Hennepin
County web site.
MN POST
This will link you to the Minnesota Peace Officers Standards
and Training board web site. This site gives a brief history of
the POST board, how it started, and what they are currently doing
to provide that all of Minnesota law enforcement is qualified
and up to date on the most recent developments in law enforcement.
For those who are thinking of going into law enforcement, they
have a link to the many colleges and universities in Minnesota
that offer this training as well as an exam schedule. This link
was helpful for us in researching the educational requirements
that are needed to become a Sheriff.
St.
Louis County
This will link you to the St. Louis County Sheriffs Department.
The first page will give you some general information about the
county of St. Louis and what the Sheriff's department does for
the community. It describes the jails and where they are located.
There are links to the various offices of the department, including
Virginia, Hibbing, and Ely. You will also find links to the budget,
land sales and maps, and employment opportunities. This site helped
us find who to contact for the interview and how to get a hold
of that person.