The funeral for James Adcock will be held Tuesday October 20 at 2:00 p.m. at Union Chapel United Methodist Church in Monroe Georgia. Visitation is set for tonight at Meadows Funeral Home in Monroe. According to autopsy results from the State Medical Examiner's Office, Adcock died of natural causes of cardiac thrombosis, which is the formation of blood clots in the cavities of the heart, as well as atherosclerotic cardio vascular disease and hypertensive cardiovascular disease. The 54 year old Monroe resident was a member of DeKalb Technical College's law enforcement academy and an employee of the Walton County Sheriff's Department.
Friday afternoon Adcock was involved in a defensive training exercise in which he tries to take into custody a suspect who is resisting arrest. During this exercise the suspect is a law enforcement academy instructor who wears what is called a "red man suit." This suit is a made of thick protective padding. During the training exercise Adcock passed out. He was immediately given CPR by the instructor who was administering the training exercise. EMS instructors in another part of the building were summoned as 911 were called. Adcock was shocked with the AED (Automatic External Defibrillator) and regained consciousness. While in route to Newton Medical Center he lost consciousness again and was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
James Adcock was a 2 year veteran of the Walton County Sheriff's department. He worked as a corrections officer and was attending DeKalb Tech's Law Enforcement Academy (LEA) to gain certification to become a patrol officer. His wife, Rebecca, says her husband loved law enforcement. DeKalb Tech's president, Dr. Robin Hoffman expressed condolences to Rebecca and the Adcock family. "It is with great sorrow that we extend our condolences to the Adcock family at this difficult time. While your loss is immeasurable, the contribution James made to the DeKalb Tech family as a law enforcement cadet will be irreplaceable," says Hoffman. As a symbol grief and unity, all members of DeKalb Tech's Public Safety Academies will be wearing black arm bands beginning today. Dr. Richard Wieser, Public Safety & Security Department Chairperson says this includes about 150 students, staff and faculty of the EMS, Fire and LEA academies. "This is our silent but strong way of showing our solidarity, support and sorrow for the loss of someone who was a close part of our public safety family at DeKalb Tech," says Wieser.
DeKalb Technical College launched its law enforcement academy in January of 2009. James Adcock was in the third recruit class to go through the academy. There are 19 members in the current class of recruits. Adcock was a "sponsored recruit". That means he was sponsored by a law enforcement agency to attend the classes. Because he was an employee of the Walton County Sheriff's Department, it was his sponsoring agency.
DeKalb Technical College, a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia, promotes a student-centered environment for lifelong learning and development, encompassing academic and technical education for employment in a global community. The college has 8 centers of learning in DeKalb, Newton, Rockdale, and Morgan counties. Established in 1961, DeKalb Technical College currently has more than 4,000 students enrolled in diploma or degree programs and more than 9,000 in adult education classes. Academic and Technical programs at DeKalb Tech cover more than 100 different occupations. For more information visit our website at www.dekalbtech.edu.
