The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON-The Columbia County Sheriff's Office has a new deputy in the making.

Since he was hired on July 1, 32-year-old Caesar Rivera said he has been getting to know the ropes. "It feels good," he said. "I'm trying to remember names."

Rivera is a 2002 graduate of Pasco High School and attended Columbia Basin College in 2005-06. When he was a student at CBC, his uncle, Jesse Romero, who is a Pasco Police Dept. detective, suggested he try a career in law enforcement.

Rivera said after a ride along in Romero's patrol car, he decided law enforcement would be his career of choice. "I experienced a variety of calls, and I said this is what I want to do," he said.

When he saw an ad for corrections officers and police officers in Sunnyside, Rivera applied, passed the physical and background checks, and joined the Sunnyside Police Department as a corrections officer in October 2006.

He was also required to attend the corrections academy in Burien, Wash., which he did, in 2007.

In Sunnyside, Rivera said he supervised offenders in the city jail, and he worked as a communications officer in the 911 dispatch center, as well. He also graduated from reserve police academy in 2010.

In 2012, Rivera left Sunnyside for a job as a Corrections Officer for Franklin County.

As a reserve deputy, Rivera said he has helped out with safety and traffic control for community events including, more recently; the Tri-Cities Water Follies, 5k races, soccer events, and the Pasco's 4th of July activities.

Rivera said he was told the focus for deputies in Columbia County is on community service. "That's my type of policing," he said.

When he is off duty, Rivera said he enjoys fishing, camping and hiking, and working on houses and cars.

Rivera will attend Police Academy, in Burien, Wash., as soon as it can be arranged, and then he and his wife, Blanca, will move from the Tri-Cities to Dayton.