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Lowndes County Sheriff Chris West has be selected to participate in national training starting next week.

The program will run from Dec. 1 through Dec. 11 in Glynco, Ga.

The program is fully federally funded and pays for West’s travel, tuition, lodging and meals.

The Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC), U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Technical Training Operations Directorate (TTOD), State, Local and Tribal Division (SLTD), in collaboration with the National Sheriff’s Association, will hold the two- week training event, the FLETC Department of Homeland Security Leadership Academy.

This is the 10th session of the academy.

FLETC was founded on the principle that collaboration in training leads to more effective law enforcement and has had a long history of partnerships with organizations such as the NSA. FLETC sees the DHSLA as a unique opportunity to contribute to leadership development where homeland security begins, at the state and local level.

West, who has been working diligently to help bring new technology and training to Lowndes County, said he is excited about the opportunity.

West said he hopes to be able to take a lot of the training and bring it home to Lowndes County to implement.