Our Instructors
Our instructors have a wide range of experience from our years of service in our field. All of our instructors are either active veterans or recently retired law enforcement officers. We offer training for today's trends and tactics. With the mass exodus of veteran leadership due to retirements, many agencies are facing a leadership crisis. Our goal is to develop officers to be the best leaders, coaches and mentors so we can continue to build the officer of tomorrow. Our instructors utilize the adult learning model and engage our trainees in training. We understand students learn in various ways and not by just lecture alone.
Ron Barroga
​Ron Barroga is the owner and founder of OPSolutions and has trained officers from various law enforcement agencies throughout California. Ron has over 23 years of law enforcement experience ranging from juvenile institutions, prevention programs, department recruiter and juvenile / adult field services working with probationers and parolees. In 2017 Ron was assigned to the Professional Standards unit as the academy coordinator. He was an instructor for the Probation Academy and is a certified instructor for P.O.S.T. and STC. Ron's field experience consists of performing undercover surveillance work and developing cases for various search warrant operations. Ron has been involved in several operations with other law enforcement agencies like Sac Sheriff S.W.A.T., HIDTA, CAL-MMET, FBI and US Marshalls. Ron is currently a Supervising Probation Officer at the Youth Detention Facility. Ron graduated with his bachelors in Social Work from CSU Sacramento.
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Bill Collins
Bill Collins has over 25 years of experience in law enforcement and is recently retired. His experience ranges from 5 years of juvenile institutions, 5 years of juvenile field with a concentration in juvenile gangs, 5 years of juvenile court and 8 years of adult field working with probationers and parolees with a concentration in Black gangs. Bill has experience doing undercover work and surveillance. Bill also has been on numerous operations with other law enforcement agencies like Sac Sheriff S.W.A.T., CAL-MMET, HIDTA, FBI and the US Marshalls. Bill is newly retired and was last assigned to Adult Field specializing in South Sacramento Black gangs. Bill recently returned the Sacramento County Probation Department as a Youth Advocate. Bill has his bachelors in Criminal Justice from CSU Sacramento is currently employed with Sacramento County Probation as Youth Advocate and continues to work with troubled youth.
Ray Lozada
Ray Lozada has over 25 years of experience in law enforcement and recently retited. Since 1993, he became familiar with the types of criminal acts and violence associated with gang activity. He received extensive training on delinquency and causation factors that lead to gang membership. In 1997 he was assigned to the Day Reporting Center. Working in this capacity provided the insight on the extended problems associated with gang activity and the impact on the family, community and public school system. Ray was educated on the criminogenic risk factors embedded in a gang lifestyle. Ray witnessed the evolution of local street gangs and supervised youth during several high profile gang related homicides. In 2006, he was selected for an assignment in the Probation Department’s Gang Suppression Unit. His caseload initially consisted of North Sacramento Hispanic Gangs. Based on his experience working in South Sacramento, He was assigned to work a caseload of African American gang members and associates.
Jacob Cullers
Jacob Cullers has over 14 years of experience in law enforcement. In that time he has spent 9 years in Juvenile Institution and was a trainer for the Probation Academy. Jacob also has 3 years as a Juvenile Court Presenter and also wrote pre-sentence investigation reports for the Adult Court System. Jacob has been a trainer with the department for 8 years training new recruits for Sacramento County's Youth Detention Facility as well as Probation Officers transitioning into assignments outside of the institution. Jacob is currently a Supervising Probation Officer assigned to the Youth Detention Facility. Jacob has his bachelors in Journalism from CSU Sacramento.
Coleen Kincheloe
Coleen Kincheloe retired from the Sacramento County Probation Department in 2019, having worked more than 27 years in the Detention Facility, Adult Field, Juvenile Court, Placement Division and Administrative Services. As an Assistant Chief Deputy, Coleen managed the Probation Department's Training Unit, Background Investigations, and Community Engagement, including Social Media. She served as Public Information Officer, and also developed and managed the Inaugural Department Peer Support Team. In 2016, Coleen received the CAPSA Manager of the Year award for her significant contributions made in the field of community corrections and probation operations. She is a graduate of Sacramento State, is certified as both a POST and STC instructor and was a Board Member of the Law Enforcement Chaplaincy of Sacramento and the Sacramento Sheriff Community Impact Program.
Alberto Cortes
Alberto Cortes is currently assigned to the Sacramento County Probation Department Adult Field, Gang Suppression Unit supervising validated gang members who are on Post Release Community Supervision, Mandatory Supervision and Formal Searchable Probation. Prior to working in Law enforcement Alberto worked in the Community as a Youth Outreach Worker providing free referral services for homeless, runaway, and at-risk teens and their families. His Law Enforcement Experience consist of 10 years of juvenile institutions, and 2 years of Adult Field Probation Supervision. In 2018, Alberto received the Collaborative Officer Award for his assistance of Social Media Investigations in identifying subjects, locating missing/runaway juveniles. Alberto has assisted in a number of Social Media cases assisting the Sacramento Sheriff Department, Sacramento Police Department, and the Safe Team Task Force. Alberto has his bachelors in Criminal Justice from CSU Sacramento.
Art Chavolla
Art Chavolla is currently a Deputy Probation Officer at Sacramento County. He has over 19 years of experience in law enforcement. Art started his law enforcement career in Yolo County as a Correctional Counselor and then transferred to Placer County for 7 years working at their Juvenile Detention Center. Currently, he has 9.5 years of experience at the Sacramento County Probation Department. Art spent 3 of those years in the Mental Health unit. From Juvenile Hall he was assigned juvenile field for 6 months before he arrived at his current assignment in Professional Standards as an Academy Trainer. Art has been a Use of Force instructor for the past 5 years. He has been awarded the Navigator and Leadership award by his peers. Art has his bachelors in History from CSU Sacramento.
Audrey Jones
​Audrey Jones is currently a Supervising Probation Officer with Sacramento County and currently assigned at Juvenile Court. Audrey has over 16 years of experience in law enforcement. Audrey's experience with Law Enforcement consists of 1 year 9 months Professional Standards - Training Unit; 2 years Adult Sex Offenders Unit (office caseload); 2 years Adult Sex Offenders Unit (armed officer); 1 year Adult Gang Suppression Unit (office caseload); 1 year Adult Drug Court; 8 years Institutions/Juvenile Work Project. Audrey was recently awarded with the Integrity Award by her peers at the Sacramento County Probation Department. Audrey has her bachelors in Liberal Studies from Oregon State.
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Phonexay Thirakoune
Phonexay Thirakoune has 9 years of probation experience. In 2012, he was assigned to the youth detention facility and worked as Detention Officer, Intake/Booking Officer, and Classification Officer. In 2018, he became a field officer and was assigned to the Juvenile Field Division specializing in the Electronic Monitoring and Age of Majority caseload. In addition to being a field officer, Phonexay is a Defensive Tactics Instructor and a member of the Honor Guard. Phonexay’s educational accomplishments include a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from California State University, Sacramento and a master’s degree in Public Administration from National University.
Tydamika Sasser
Tydamika Sasser has over 17 years of experience in law enforcement. In that time she has spent 9 years in Juvenile Hall, 3 years in Juvenile Court as a court writer and a court presenter and 4 years of Juvenile Field where she was an officer assigned to the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children unit. She was instrumental in creating and managing the Probation Department’s first Commercial Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC) multi-disciplinary caseload and trained other officers in the department on CSEC practices. In December of 2015, she received an Award of Excellence from the Chief Probation Officers of California (CPOC) for practicing innovative strategies to address the CSEC population in Sacramento County. She was also assigned to the PRCS / Mandatory Supervision unit in Adult Field. Tydamika is currently a Senior Deputy Probation Officer in the Professional Standards Unit. Tydamika has her bachelors in Criminal Justice from CSU Sacramento.
Malia Clayton
Malia Clayton has over 11 years in law enforcement. She started her career as a Community Service Officer then began her career as a Deputy Probation Officer for Stanislaus County. In her that time she has worked in Adult Intake and Case Control, Adult General Supervision, Violent Offender Program (Domestic violence), Juvenile Intake and Adult High Risk ( Gang Unit). Malia spent a year with the Stanislaus County Sheriff Special Investigation Unit specializing in Human Trafficking. She worked as a UC and investigated multiple Human trafficking's cases. Malia has been involved in several operations involving S.W.A.T, Homeland Security Investigations, ATF and DEA. Malia's field experience includes performing undercover work, surveillance, search warrants and working social media cases. Malia has been a part of the Strangulation Task Force and plays a vital role in Human Trafficking. She is Stanislaus County's Expert Witness in Human Trafficking. Malia is a PREA instructor and has her bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice from California State University Stanislaus.
Alena Shvets
Alena Shvets is our Millennial Officer and helps co-facilitate our "Millennial Officer" course. As a Deputy Probation Assistant, she has over 4 years of experience working in juvenile corrections at the Sacramento County Youth Detention Facility (YDF). Prior to Probation she worked in a group home setting providing supervision and behavior management skills to juvenile delinquents. As a veteran officer at YDF, she is currently assigned as an Intake / Booking Officer while also completing assessments as a Classification Officer. Additionally she is a Defensive Tactics Instructor and often responds to alarms in the units. She reviews uses of force footage to address remediation in defensive tactics in order to develop proficiency in use of force to comply with our use of force policy. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from California State University. Both careers and her degree have led her to gain knowledge dealing with individuals from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds and the experience to understand the principles and techniques applicable to the care, growth, development, needs, and rehabilitation of minors.