Special to Iredell Free News

Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell recently selected three new deputies through the Deputy Sheriff Candidate Program.

“The original thought process in this program was to be able to give the best candidates an opportunity to get into law enforcement as a profession who may otherwise may not be able to due to family, work or school obligations,” Campbell said. “We originally planned to hire two people, but with the number of extremely qualified people who applied, I made the decision to send four through this new program.”

The new hires will be paid while they are completing Basic Law Enforcement Training.

“Law enforcement agencies in this area, as well as across the state, are searching for qualified applicants, and we must compete with these agencies for a limited pool of applicants, by hiring these new employees, we hope to establish this process as the new way we hire people as numbers allow. These candidates were impressive. As part of our continued commitment to our detention center employees who would like to continue their training to become sworn deputies, an employee from the detention center will attend this class.”

Steven Leaird is a 2018 graduate of the Visual & Performing Arts Early College High School. He earned his Associate’s Degree in Pre-Major Criminal Justice. He is currently perusing dual majors at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke in Criminal Justice and Sociology. He was working as an operations manager at a local business.

Isaac Creasy is a 2018 graduate of North Iredell High School. He earned an Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice Technology from Wilkes Community College. He was working for a local construction company.

Betsy Velazquez is a 2015 graduate of North Iredell High School. She earned an Associate’s Degree from Mitchell Community College in Criminal Justice Technology. She also serves in the N.C. Army National Guard and was working at a local restaurant.

Detention Officer Nicholas Jared Wheeler is a 2011 graduate from Monsignor Farrell High School in Staten Island, N.Y. Employed at the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office Detention Officer since 2018, he was promoted to corporal in February of 2020.