Seven deputies of the Arlington County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) graduated on June 2, 2025, from the Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Training Academy (NVCJTA) as part of Session 152. These new deputies and their classmates from both the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office and Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, successfully completed 10 weeks of training in NVCJTA’s Deputy School. Deputy School focuses on Defensive Tactics, Firearms Training, Emergency Vehicle Operations, Legal Studies, Court Security, Civil Process and Jail Operations, preparing them to serve and protect their communities with distinction. The Friday prior, the deputies stood in a county courtroom among colleagues, family and friends and were sworn in by Arlington Clerk of the Circuit Court Paul Ferguson. They will now complete several weeks of in-house training before starting their regular assignments at the Arlington County Detention Facility.
“We are proud to welcome seven new deputies to our team today,” said Sheriff Jose Quiroz. Through rigorous training, these deputies not only demonstrated unwavering commitment, but earned distinction in every category – including academics, firearms, and even a prestigious Thomas L. Shaw award given based on character, chosen by Academy leadership. Their achievements reflect the high standards we uphold, and we are confident they will serve the Arlington community and our justice system with professionalism, integrity, and excellence.”
Deputy Achtyl of the ACSO was also the Session’s Class President. She said “although we each have different personalities and backgrounds, we’ve learned to rely on one another for support, to hold each other accountable, and to celebrate our shared successes. This journey has shown us the strength of teamwork and the value of unity – principles we will carry with us as we begin our service to the community. We are ready to get to work and be the best deputies we can be – for the Office, for the community, and for ourselves.”
Congratulations to the following graduates:
Deputy Achtyl
Deputy Creedon
Deputy Flores
Deputy McGuire
Deputy Ogando
Deputy Parker, Jr.
Deputy Richards
Three of the new sheriff deputies were recognized with the following achievements at graduation:
- Deputy Creedon was awarded the Director’s Award for Academic Excellence for Deputy School
- Deputy Flores was awarded Excellence in Firearms
- Deputy Parker, Jr. was awarded the most distinguished award for trainee excellence, the Thomas L. Shaw award. For this award, Basic Training Staff select one individual recruit that they felt best exhibited the high-quality standards set by Mr. Thomas L. Shaw’s law enforcement legacy. The staff’s selection was difficult due to many excellent candidates.
About Mr. Thomas L. Shaw
This award is named in honor of Mr. Thomas L. Shaw and recognizes his 42 years of service to the Northern Virginia region in the Criminal Justice arena. In 1982, Tom Shaw retired after serving 20 years with the Fairfax County Police Department. During his police career, he served in a variety of different assignments and rose through the ranks to Major with the Fairfax County Police Department. Upon his retirement from the police department, he was named the Executive Director of the Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Training Academy. For the next 18 years, he served as the Academy’s Executive Director, until his second retirement in the year 2000. He is widely remembered and respected for his tireless commitment to, and implementation of, rigorous training standards and high-quality education for law enforcement officers throughout Virginia. His entire law enforcement career was representative of three characteristics – Professionalism, Dedication, and Leadership.
