What Does the Middlesex Sheriff's Office Do?

When people talk about the Sheriff's Office, it's often with a vague idea of what Sheriff Peter Koutoujian and the rest of the department do.   

But Koutoujian hopes to change that with his new Citizens Academy, which begins April 10.

As a resident of Waltham, Koutoujian said he saw how well people responded to the town’s Citizen’s Academy and thought that he could bring the same concept to the Sheriff's Office.

Koutoujian has been in office for more than two years, but he acknowledged that most people don’t know the ins and outs of the sheriff's department and how they differ from local and state police departments.

“I had been a prosecutor for four years then I worked in the court doing some defense work after that. Until I became sheriff I didn’t have a true idea of the vast responsibilities that the sheriff’s department has,” Koutoujian said.

Although the first academy has a limited amount of spots, he hopes it will be something the department can do more often in the future.

“We’re going to talk about the history of the office, women in corrections as inmates and officer, the K9 unit, community affairs, the SWAT team and more,” Koutoujian said.

One of the most important things he said he hopes residents will take away is a knowledge of what the department does through the inmate rehabilitation program.

“We do a really thorough assessment in our shop and then we develop a program wrapped around the needs of that particular inmate,” Koutoujian said. “It’s our mission to give them some of the tools that they were lacking that lead to their crimes.”

The class will run for 8 weeks, starting April 10 at the sheriff’s training academy in Billerica. To sign up for the class residents can contact Community Affairs Director Ken Doucette by calling 978 932 3266 or emailing kdoucette@sdm.state.ma.us.