Sheriff Mike Kanalakis is pleased to announce that Deputy Eric Byrom, a thirty year member of the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, has been selected as the Monterey County Office of the Sheriff Deputy of the Year for 2008.

 Deputy Byrom has obtained the respect of his peers, his sergeants and this commander for these many years. Most recently, Deputy Eric Von Byrom has demonstrated his vast knowledge in the Custody Operation Bureau by his actions in several incidents this year that have already won him a Sheriff’s Life Saving Award and the eternal gratitude of many of the inmate population at the Monterey County Jail.

 On 06-03-08, Deputy Byrom was working in the Women’s Section as a floor deputy when a woman inmate was found choking on a large object.  Deputy Byrom immediately contacted medical staff to respond to the area and began performing the Heimlich Maneuver on the inmate after several inmates in the pod had attempted to do the same thing.  Keeping his cool, Deputy Byrom took hold of the inmate who was turning dark blue in the face. After several correctly applied upward thrusts, Deputy Byrom dislodged the object from the woman’s throat and handed her off to Medical personnel for oxygen therapy.  The inmate recovered completely and refers to Deputy Byrom as her personal `hero’.

 On 10-09-08, there was unrest in D-Dorm with the Parolee type classification of inmates housed there.  There had been an announcement that all boxer underwear would be exchanged for standard underwear.  This did not set too well with the population and they became vocal over the forced exchange.  Deputy Byrom had already worked on a plan with his fellow deputies to strip down the inmates to only their coveralls and seize the boxer underwear and replace it in a `roll’ of newly issued underwear before they realized what had taken place.  The ruse worked successfully with the 64 inmates and avoided any further drama in this high security housing unit. The potential for violence was taken away due to Deputy Byrom’s carefully laid out plan of action.

On 10-14-08, Deputy Byrom was working as a Dorm Floor Deputy overlooking C and D-Dorms.  There was severe racial unrest in D-Dorm with the entire inmate population numbering sixty-two inmates facing off against each other.  Once again, Deputy Byrom, wearing a calm demeanor, approached the entire inmate population and convinced them to speak to the Jail Administration to air their grievances and worked out a plan ahead of time to separate them by gradually removing one of each race to be searched for weapons and placed in temporary segregated housing until later when a `peace’ was struck among the `inmate shot callers’ calming the dorm and returning them to a normal program.

 Well respected by his peers and the inmate population, Deputy Byrom has given volunteer time to his local Seaside community in the past as a member of the Friendship Baptist Church where he drove a bus for elderly members attending church events.  He has also volunteered to give his rare blood type through the American Red Cross and Tri-Counties blood drives on many occasions in the past as well. His supervisor, Sgt. Tony Chaffee, has stated many times that Deputy Byrom has a no-nonsense approach to work and is often especially perceptive in recognizing problems in their early stages and highly skilled in formulating equitable solutions to provide a positive end.  He encourages other coworkers around him to use a wide array of techniques to assist in getting the various details done throughout the 12-hour shift. Deputy Byrom has proven to be one of the most reliable people you can count upon in both good times and the very bad ones as well. 

 Thanks to Deputy Eric Von Byrom and his longstanding consistently fair but firm treatment of inmates throughout his career, he has used his excellent reputation with the inmate population to get this difficult job done preventing harm to both the inmates among themselves and the staff who watch over them around the clock.  Deputy Byrom is an excellent example of what a Custody Operations Bureau deputy should be and is within the highest traditions consistent of the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office.