Kendall County Sheriff’s Office hires two patrol deputies

The Kendall County Sheriff’s Office has hired two new deputies to fill vacancies in the patrol division. Kirsten Gackowski and Alec Battistella were sworn in Sept. 9 by Sheriff Dwight Baird.

Deputies Gackowski and Battistella will attend Basic Police Training Academy for 14 weeks. Upon completion of the academy, they will be paired with experienced field training officers for a rigorous 14-week field training program.

Deputy Gackowski studies criminal justice with a focus on homeland security and counter-terrorism at Purdue University, where she is a member of the National Society for Collegiate Scholars, and has worked as a correctional deputy at the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office since February 2020. Deputy Battistella studied criminal justice at Waubonsee Community College and worked at Superior Beverage before being hired by the sheriff’s office.