The First Responder Spotlight Series features law enforcement, firefighters, EMS, and other emergency personnel who make it their business to serve our communities, often in ways we never see, each and every day.
The series is sponsored by McKeithen’s True Value Hardware in Statesboro.
Corporal Issac Partlow has been working in law enforcement for six years now, but in that short time, he has established a considerably diverse resume and was recently named Deputy of the Year for the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office.
Growing up in the Hartwell area in northeast Georgia, Partlow wasn’t set on working in law enforcement. He enjoyed the investigative aspect of things, but figured he would find himself working in a different field.
After high school, he moved to Statesboro to attend Georgia Southern University to study Criminal Justice and minor in Sociology. Upon graduation, a friend who worked for the Sheriff’s Office already suggested he consider applying. That was in May of 2015 and shortly after, Partlow was hired as a jailer.
Though it was much different from what he does now, the two years Partlow spent working in the jail before he became a patrol deputy offered him some unique experience and perspective in how to approach people and situations. “When you’re back there, you don’t have all of this,” Partlow said, pointing to his duty belt. “You only have your words and the ability to listen. It’s you and all the guys and the next guy is down the hallway and you just learn how to talk to people in so many different situations.”
Both jobs, however, offer the distinct aspect of ‘something different every day.’ “Of course I want to help people, that’s the easy answer to say,” he said. “But being out and about and working calls and seeing people take the advice you give them and they use it and better themselves, that’s probably the most rewarding part to me.”
He referenced a story of a woman in a situation involving domestic violence and deputies had made a few calls to her home. Partlow said in talking with the woman, he could sense a genuine desire to exit the situation by the woman involved, but she had no idea where to begin.
“I talked to her, did her a report, and just gave her some resources and guidance on what to do next. I remember this story because she did everything and several months later I saw her in the Sheriff’s Office and had a chance to talk to her,” Partlow shared. “She thanked me and told me the resources and guidance helped her get through the tough time and she was out of the situation. It just stuck with me and that was probably the first year I was on the road.”
For the last four years with the Bulloch Sheriff’s Office, Partlow has been working patrol and in August 2021, he was promoted to Corporal. Partlow is also a Field Training Officer, which means he is now training new recruits as they begin working the road themselves, something he says helped prepare him in becoming a corporal. He’s also a member of the Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team (SERT), which he’s been doing for about two years.
When asked who he would credit as mentors within the office and supporters of getting him to where he is today, Partlow couldn’t name just one. “Ian Scruggs and Ignacio “Nacho” Juarez, they’ve definitely helped me out. And Pre Cone, she’s been talking to me since Day 1,” he said.
Quite driven himself, Partlow says he just likes to surround himself with people who are hard workers and want to continue to better themselves. “Sharpening skills at the range, taking criminal procedure classes, acknowledging where you might need to improve and taking a class on that. Just not getting stuck in a plateau and staying where you’re at…that’s what I like to see in myself and in others on the job.” This fall, he is headed to Instructor School to begin the process of teaching courses for other deputies and officers.
Just recently, Partlow was named Deputy of the Year by the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office, an award which is given based on nominations by other peers in the office, and two weeks ago returned from his honeymoon with his wife, Courtney.
While the investigative aspect is what lured Partlow to criminal justice in the first place, now that he’s been on the road, he’s not sure if that is the pathway ahead for him or not. But for now, he’s beyond content working patrol and serving Bulloch County in that capacity.
Corporal Issac Partlow was nominated for the First Responder Spotlight by Sheriff Noel Brown and his Command Staff.
