Buck Ledford

 In addittion to teaching at El Capitan, he is currently a level 1 Reserve Deputy Sheriff for the Merced County Sheriff's Office.  He retired as a Lieutenant with Merced County after 24 years of law enforcement service in August 2023.  While at the Sheriff's Office, he held positions as an FTO, Detective, Arrest and Control instructor, TASER instructor, Impact weapon instructor, Use of Force instructor, Sniper team leader, SWAT Tactical Commander, SERT team Tactical Commander, Search and Rescue supervisor, Coroner Bureau supervisor, administrative Sergeant, and Special Operations Lieutenant.  He has also been an adjunct professor at Merced Junior College since 2015.  He started the Public Safety Law Enforcement program for Merced Union High School District during the 2023-24 school year.  Before getting into law enforcement, he served for 8 years as an active duty US Army soldier.  During his time in the service, he was deployed to the Middle East during Operation Desert Storm and served for 11 months in Bosnia/Croatia during peacekeeping missions.          

Instructor Certification and Training

Instructor Buck Ledford:

BA Criminal Justice Management/Administration, Union Institute

Deputy Sheriff

TASER instructor (Current)

FTO

Gracie Survival Tactics Level I and II instructor 

Graduate FEMA Mobile Field Force Operations and Field Force Extraction courses in Anniston AL

Arrest and Control instructor (Current)

SWAT Tactical Commander school graduate

Completed the Robert Presley Institute of Criminal Investigations (ICI) core investigators and homicide courses  

Attended numerous death investigations, search warrants, gang seminars, and officer survival courses 

Completed the OES Direction and Control Search function course

Adjunct Professor at Merced Junior College

Certified BLS/CPR Instructor

Over 2,000 hours of POST-approved training since 2000 

Mentor/Teacher/Husband/Father/Grandfather

The Public Service program at El Capitan High School is an active member of LAPSEN, and SkillsUSA