When Brandon Lugar attended the Basic Correctional Officer Academy in 2013, he didn’t realize he would later become a parole agent.
Last week you met Sgt. Vanessa Melendez as she looked back at her academy days, including chemical agent training. But she wasn’t alone during that training. Among the cadets alongside her in 2013 was Lugar, whose CDCR career has taken a different trajectory, this time to the Division of Adult Parole Operations (DAPO).
Meet Parole Agent Brandon Lugar
Lugar shares his journey from being a cadet to becoming a parole agent. Along the way, he served as a correctional officer at California State Prison-Sacramento. Parole agents are committed to keeping communities safe through effective parole supervision.
“I knew once you got on with the department, there’s so many different areas you can go for advancement,” said Lugar.
Working in various areas of CSP-Sacramento, he was learning about the prison system.
“I was learning different job duties and learned about parole,” he said. “I thought it was an interesting job, you know, so I decided to give it a try.”
He enjoys being proactive.
“This is one of the (law enforcement) jobs where you can be proactive,” Lugar said. “You can pretty much look out for the community. You’re helping rehabilitate these guys or at least guide them access to resources where they can help better themselves.”
He encourages others considering a CDCR career to look at their options.
“There’s different positions you can branch off into. Don’t just limit yourself to whatever you’re applying to at the time,” he said. “You may have to better yourself later on to get these (other) positions.”
Story and video by Jeff Baur, TV Specialist
Office of Public and Employee Communications
To learn more about becoming a Correctional Officer, visit https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/por/.
Learn more about DAPO at https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/parole/.