Buncombe Sheriff’s Office launches behind-the-scenes academy for residents
Only 25 residents can get into Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office’s June academy, where jail operations, patrol work and school resource officers are on the agenda.
Only 25 Buncombe County residents will get a rare, behind-the-scenes look at how the sheriff’s office runs, from detention services and civil process to crime-scene work and school resource officers. The 2026 Sheriff’s Academy is limited to adults 18 and older, and every applicant will undergo a criminal history investigation before being approved.
Sheriff Quentin Miller announced the program on Tuesday, May 12, setting the academy for every Thursday in June from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the sheriff’s office headquarters, 60 Court Plaza in Asheville. Sessions are scheduled for June 4, June 11, June 18 and June 25. The office says the program is a community-involvement effort, and residents must apply online to take part.
For Buncombe County, the academy lands in the middle of a broader debate over how law enforcement explains itself to the public. The sheriff’s office says it wants the program to strengthen community relationships and give residents a clearer view of day-to-day work that often becomes visible only during crises, whether that involves a deputy response, jail operations or the role of a school resource officer. The agenda is designed to show how those pieces fit together, with sessions covering crime scene investigations, support operations, detention, enforcement, civil process and volunteer opportunities.
Miller’s office has pushed a 21st-century policing model since he took office. Miller was elected in 2018, sworn in on December 3 of that year and became the first African-American sheriff of Buncombe County. The office also describes itself as the largest law enforcement agency in Western North Carolina, with public-facing functions that include an Animal Crimes Division and a Real Time Intelligence Center. That breadth makes the academy more than a tour of one division; it is a look at how patrol, investigations, corrections and community outreach are tied together under one agency.
The sheriff’s office headquarters sits at 60 Court Plaza, 4th Floor, Asheville, in a county the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association lists at 257,607 residents across 660 square miles. The office’s recruitment materials say its BLET cadets attend Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College’s academy for 18 to 20 weeks and 34 instruction blocks, and that cadets are paid employees while training. That staffing context gives the citizens’ academy a second purpose as well, showing residents how the department explains its work to potential volunteers, applicants and future law-enforcement recruits.
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