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Kern County Sheriff reacts to Dallas shooting

Posted at 6:40 PM, Jul 08, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-08 21:40:01-04

Although the shooting of Dallas police officers happened thousands of miles away, local law enforcement is chiming in tonight on the tragedy.

Sheriff Donny Youngblood said this attack hits close to home for deputies, as it could happen to them any day, at any time.

He said in order to keep the peace in this county, it's business as usual in their department.

"It was pretty traumatic to watch," said Youngblood.

A traumatic event hitting close to home for local law enforcement officers.

Youngblood watching the attack on Dallas police officers as it unfolded on television overnight.

"it could just easily been any officer here."

As the top dog of the Kern County Sheriff's Office, Youngblood said an attack on your men and women is not taken lightly.

"Certainly you're worried about your deputies. You don't want anything to happen to them. They're just trying to do the job they're sworn to do.

And those deputies - coping in their own way.

"I think it varies from officer to officer. Some of them are veterans of combat and they will deal with it differently than others," he said.

But the department isn't going to change protocol.

In order to avoid ruffling any feathers, Youngblood doesn't want his deputies to overreact to the situation that happened in Texas.

"We're not going to  let this cause us to knee-jerk and react and maybe create tension when you are trying to what's good."

Moving forward, Youngblood said deputies know their lives are put on the line every day, but they'll do their best to protect and serve their community.

"Things occur sometimes that you can't plan for and we have to react to those and I think that the officers in this county do a really, really good job at doing that."

Sheriff Youngblood also said, if anyone has an issue with the way deputies are handling a situation, they should contact the Sheriff's Office. 

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