VISALIA, CA – MAY 13, 2016 – As part of Telmate Fallen Heroes Week, Telmate will honor fallen Deputy Sheriff Scott Ballantyne of Tulare County Sheriff’s Office, California, during a “24 Hour Vigil” event hosted by the Tulare County Deputy Sheriff’s Association. Ballantyne is one of five fallen officers being honored by Telmate, from five regions of the U.S. during National Police Week.
The vigil is open to the public and begins at 8 a.m. on Friday, May 13 and ends at 8 a.m. on Saturday, May 14. All are encouraged to attend and show their support. Telmate will honor the late Deputy at the service with a donation to the Deputy Scott Ballantyne Memorial Scholarship Fund, which is dedicated to educating and training young people interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement.
In addition to honoring Ballantyne, the service will pay tribute to all law enforcement professionals by projecting a live webcast of a 28th Candlelight Vigil from Washington DC at 5 p.m.. The vigil is an annual National Police Week event hosted by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF), a Telmate partner.
On February 10, 2016, Deputy Sheriff Ballantyne and Sheriff’s pilot James Chavez were in an aircraft assisting ground Deputies with the search of a subject wanted for brandishing a firearm. After the subject was arrested, the aircraft was preparing to leave the area but lost altitude and crashed into a mountain in Springville. Both Ballantyne and Chavez were killed in the crash.
Survived by his mother, brother and two sisters, Ballantyne was very caring of others and had “an understanding of people” that influenced his nearly 3-decade-long career in law enforcement, according to mother, Jean. “I just thought of him as someone doing something he really enjoyed,” she said, “so I’m glad he has been recognized as a hero — he will always be a hero in my eyes.”
Highly respected by his fellow law enforcement officers, Ballantyne filled many roles during his 27 years with the department and will be remembered for his passion for protecting the community he served.
Telmate, a leader in corrections solutions, has developed The Telmate Fallen Heroes Program as part of the company’s community outreach program called Telmate Cares. Every month, nominees are presented to a committee and one individual or organization is selected to receive a scholarship/donation to support families of fallen officers or organizations selected by those families.
For more information about Telmate’s Fallen Heroes program visit telmate.com/fallen-heroes.
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About Telmate:
Telmate is a leading provider of secure corrections and community corrections solutions including phone, tablet, visitation, messaging, education and entertainment content, corrections applications, investigator tools and GPS monitoring. Telmate’s cutting-edge platforms are deployed in over 300 correctional facilities in the U.S. and Canada. Telmate is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with employee presence nationwide. To find out more about Telmate, visit www.telmate.com.
