SHERIFF BYRD WOULD LIKE TO ANNOUNCE AND CONGRATULATE DEPUTY PERVIS WATSON FOR COMPLETING 13 WEEKS OF ACADEMIC AND PHYSICAL TRAINING AT ATETA (Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy). SHERIFF BYRD PRAISES WATSON FOR STAYING COMMITTED TO HIS GOAL. HE IS MOTIVATED IN DOING WHAT'S REQUIRED TO GIVE BACK TO THE COMMUNITY.

PERVIS WATSON HAS HAD A LIFELONG GOAL OF BEING IN LAW ENFORCEMENT. EVEN THOUGH HE SPENT 20 YEARS AT HELENA-WEST HELENA FIRE DEPARTMENT (MAKING HIS WAY TO THE TOP COMMAND AS CHIEF), HIS PASSION, HIS DRIVE, AND HIS ENERGY WAS/IS LAW ENFORCEMENT. 

ON FRIDAY DECEMBER 9, 2022, HE MET THAT GOAL WHEN HE GRADUATED FROM THE ALETA (Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy) IN CAMDEN, AR. THOUGH HE DID GRADUATE, HIS STRUGGLES WERE REAL AND PRESENT. IN FEBRUARY 2021, HE FELL ON THE JOB AND HAD TO HAVE A BILATERAL KNEE (TENDON) REPAIR, A JOURNEY THAT INVOLVED THREE SURGERIES AND HOURS OF PHYSICAL THERAPY. HE STILL WAS NOT DETERRED. HE STILL HAD FOCUS. 

BECAUSE OF HIS DETERMINATION TO OVERCOME THESE OBSTACLES, HE IS NOW A FULL-TIME DEPUTY WITH THE PHILLIPS COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICER UNDER THE DIRECTION OF SHERIFF NEAL BYRD, WHO WAS DILIGENT IN SEEING HIM MAKE IT THROUGH THE ACADEMY.

PERVIS CREDITS HIS ABILITIES, ENDURANCE, AND STAMINA TO THOSE WHO HAVE HELPED HIM ALONG THE WAY; HIS WIFE, HIS KIDS, FRIENDS, FELLOW COWORKERS, AND ALSO THE ALETA STAFF WHO HAD AN AMAZING SHOW OF SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT.