By Ashley Quadros, Public Information Officer
Nevada County became home to Brenda Amerio and her husband in 2000, but she soon found she had a second home with the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office. She learned about working in corrections from her uncle, who worked at a juvenile corrections facility in Tracy, California, and felt inspired to follow suit.
For the last 21 years, she has worked as a correctional officer, proudly representing the corrections division at the Sheriff’s Office. For her first 20 years, she held down the fort at Wayne Brown Correctional Facility in Nevada City and worked in a variety of capacities, including transportation officer, field training officer, lobby officer, court holding officer, and medical officer. This past year, she joined the corrections team at the Truckee Jail substation, a temporary holding facility, also operated by the Sheriff’s Office. Through the course of her career, Officer Amerio has responded to several incidents, including overdoses, medical emergencies, fights, and has even been credited with saving a man’s life.
“While working as a medical officer, I let an inmate out to his dayroom and he proceeded to go over to the shower,” she recalled, noting something was off. As a correctional officer, paying close attention to even the slightest of changes in mannerisms is highly important.
“I had a gut feeling that I needed to check on him,” she continued. “And when I did, I found he had hung himself in the shower with his pants. I proceeded to call for medical assistance while getting him untied.”
Medical assistance arrived moments later, and CPR was provided. Because of Officer Amerio’s inkling that something was amiss and her quick response to help the man, he survived and made a full recovery.
Life in corrections is full of ups and downs but for Officer Amerio, it’s been a rewarding career, one that she noted has always required a caring heart.
