Inside CDCR: Sergeant looks back at academy training

Meet Vanessa Melendez, a CDCR Sergeant committed to ensuring people interested in becoming Correctional Officers are screened in a comprehensive background investigation.
In 2013, Melendez was a cadet herself, going through the Richard A. McGee Correctional Training Center in Galt. Toward the end of the academy, Melendez and her fellow cadets participated in chemical agent training, where they experienced the effects chemical agents used in incident response have on the body.
It's an experience Melendez said she'd never forget when she was interviewed about it in 2013, and as she rises through the ranks at CDCR she said that hands-on training has been valuable no matter the position.
Melendez is one of many women at CDCR dedicated to the Department's public safety and rehabilitation mission. To learn more about becoming a Correctional Officer, visit www.cdcr.ca.go....
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