INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Indian River County Sheriff’s Sgt. Rick Vidiri is about to lead his last Citizens Academy before he retires in March. For the last four years, the sergeant has spent one evening a week for as many as 14 weeks with more than 500 people, all seeking a peek behind the scenes of law enforcement.
Their next opportunity begins Wednesday and will run 11 weeks.
Unlike so many who retire, Sgt. Vidiri isn’t dreaming of leisure time or counting the days until he leaves his desk for the last time. Instead, he is dreading leaving the department and is retiring begrudgingly, having entered into the state’s Deferred Retirement Option Program five years ago.
“I don’t want to go,” Sgt. Vidiri said. “I don’t want to leave.”
For 30 years, Sgt. Vidiri has called the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office home. In that time, he served five years in the narcotics division and helping the FBI with making federal drug cases, worked 15 years as a road supervisor, and spent the last eight years in crime prevention.
“It flew by,” the sergeant said of his time at the Sheriff’s Office.
The one consolation of retirement, he said, is that he’ll be able to spend more time with his 3-year-old granddaughter Kylie, who lives with him.
“She’s the love of my life,” Sgt. Vidiri said.
His two other grandchildren live in Orlando.
The sergeant took over handling the Citizens Academy four years ago, when Sheriff Deryl Loar was initially elected.
“It needed a little boost,” Sgt. Vidiri said of the program, noting that it was already more than 15 years old by that time.
Last year, the Sheriff’s Office Citizens Academy brought home the First Place National Citizens Academy Award – a point of fact of which Sgt. Vidiri is quite proud. He and others from the Sheriff’s Office routinely field phone calls from law enforcement agencies from across the country seeking advice to bolster their own programs.
But as much as Sgt. Vidiri is the leader of the program, he said its success hinges on the personnel who speak and demonstrate during the individual classes.
“You have to have people who want to teach,” he said. “People who are passionate, enthusiastic and love their job.”
Courses tend to average around 50 participants but have ballooned to as many as 107, which occurred a couple years ago, according to the sergeant. And though his phone rang non-stop Monday with people wishing to reserve a seat in the upcoming academy, Sgt. Vidiri said there’s still room.
Anyone interested in participating needs only to arrive at the Sheriff’s Office, 4055 41st St., Vero Beach, before 6:30 p.m. Class starts promptly at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium and runs for two hours.
Along with finding officers willing to participate, Sgt. Vidiri has learned to provide class topics participants are interested in.
“K-9’s probably No. 1,” Sgt. Vidiri said of the popularity of that particular session. Behind it is the traffic class.
When he first offered the session, he had limited Deputy Karrie Spooner to a mere 20 minutes to discuss the ins and outs of traffic enforcement.
“There were so many questions,” Sgt. Vidiri said. Now Deputy Spooner gets about 90 minutes.
“I’ve constantly got to readjust the program,” the sergeant said.
Participants go on field trips to the Indian River County Courthouse, out to the Sheriff’s Office hangar, into the county jail and other locales. They hear from members of the Sheriff’s Office SWAT team, those in Special Operations, as well as those responsible for handling the four-legged officers in the K-9 unit.
They “see how the whole picture fits together,” Sgt. Vidiri said.
At the end of the 11-week course, the cadets celebrate with a graduation dinner and ceremony, receiving a certificate of completion as well as a DVD highlighting the classes.
“It’s amazing the different walks of life,” the sergeant said of those who participate. Some are globe trotters, others CEOs of large corporations, and some retired law enforcement personnel.
And while there is no age requirement to participate, some of the classes are not suitable for youth, according to Sgt. Vidiri. Those younger than 16 need to have parental permission to participate, and even then, they’re not allowed in the crime scene class, which is scheduled for Feb. 27.
The sergeant said those interested in attending the academy need not commit to attending every single session.
“It’s very difficult for people to make it 11 weeks in a row,” he said. So, participants are encouraged to attend the classes they missed during the next Citizens Academy.
Looking back on the last four years running the program, Sgt. Vidiri said the best part has been seeing the graduates out in the community. Many stop him in the store or on the street to share a fond memory of their favorite class.
As for a favorite memory he’ll carry with him into retirement – Sgt. Vidiri can’t share because it would spoil the surprise for his last academy’s recruits.
“Hopefully, maybe I’ll be back,” Sgt. Vidiri said. In DROP, the sergeant has to remain retired for at least six months before coming back. And, if he were to do so, he would not be eligible for a second pension.
He is considering the possibility of returning after the required time as a part time employee working in crime prevention and helping with the Citizens Academy, as well as the Neighborhood Watch program.
“That’s my specialty, my passion,” Sgt. Vidiri said of crime prevention. “I’m getting too old for the road.”
