Upon taking office, I intend to immediately address several issues which I feel have been Fiscally Irresponsible on behalf of the incumbent. Although, I cannot change purchasing $17,000.00 worth of campaign (Smokey bear) hats, special radio’s for the opponent’s vehicle, the approximately $90,000.00 prisoner transport buses, laying a mechanic off work permanently due to “lack of funding”, etc., I can address these items which causes me great concern with the current operations and provides me with great anticipation to see the improvements implemented:
I will follow the law – this is not optional and should not have to be negotiated with the Sheriff. I believe this is the primary duty of any law enforcement officer and particularly the “chief law enforcement officer of the county”. I will seek to identify the best practices from around the country and the world that can effectively work within the Sheriff’s Office. “This is how we’ve always done it” will not be the motto of the Sheriff’s Office. Law enforcement must constantly evolve in order to keep pace with the ever changing criminal element.
Under my administration, we will not attempt to circumvent state bidding law requirements and will encourage transparency in our spending procedures. Our purchasing procedures will be above board, open for inspection and justified. I believe the public should have a Sheriff they can truly trust in making decisions in the best interest of the citizens and is not afraid to explain the spending practices of the Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff should serve the office, the office does not serve the Sheriff.
A request for information under a properly filed Open Records request will not require forced compliance as long as the release of the information is not otherwise protected by law. We are servants of the public and should not attempt to block such requests, I will encourage and expect my personnel to Do the Right Thing!
Reorganization Of The Sheriff's Office
Staffing in patrol and investigations will be an absolute priority! We must do those things that we are mandated to do first and foremost. The staffing can be helped and overtime significantly reduced by reorganizing those personnel already in place. The addition of other “special units” simply for the appearance of action without firm results is irresponsible. Each area of the sheriff’s office will be reviewed for efficiency as well as necessity. All positions will be justified or reassigned for maximum effectiveness.
I will seek to put qualified people in positions for which they are best suited. The use of certain personnel in dual roles is a practical and cost effective way to staff some units. We will also look at assigning duties to non-sworn personnel to reduce the cost of operations. We will also explore partnering with other agencies in the sharing of resources. The “bloating” of the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office is completely out of touch when considering the current economic situation of the country. Here are some examples, we intend to address:
One example-When the opponent came into office, he immediately instituted a number of promotions increasing the budget of the staff at a significant cost. We currently have more people in supervisory positions than full-time commissioned deputies. Based on budget information, reducing a number of the ranks would be nearly sufficient to pay the salary of another deputy. What is more important to you, the voter, more governmental supervisors or an additional law enforcement officer on the street? We do not need more people leaning on the shovel telling us how to dig; we need people willing to roll their sleeves up and go to work.
As of August 5th, 2011 this is the breakdown of the rank structure of full-time commissioned peace officers in the Sheriff’s Office: 1-Sheriff, 1-Undersheriff, 3-Captains, 5-Lieutenants, 13-Sergeants, and 18-Deputies (23 supervisor positions and 18 deputies). Prior to adding the Juvenile Center positions, there were 21 supervisors and 17 deputies.
Another example-Unnecessary Positions-When the opponent came into office, he immediately created several unnecessary positions including a person who ultimately became a full time background investigator (for two years, and is still working at a reduced rate). Not only did the opponent create an unnecessary position, he also made this person a Lieutenant (the fourth highest rank in the Sheriff’s Office, who also actively assisted him in his campaign). This position was justified by citing a need due to federal grant requirements, unlike my opponent, I have wrote federal grants and have never found this requirement in any of the grant applications.
This particular employee was assigned to do background investigations on every employee looking for dirt on each person. Again, we need more workers and fewer supervisors. I intend to put this position to work fighting crime and not digging up dirt on personnel which may be used later. We have other positions which I believe will be better served addressing and contributing to the duties of the Sheriff’s Office. I fully intend to reallocate personnel as well as reduce the number of supervisors in order to put more personnel on the “street” to suit the needs of the county and the experience of the personnel.
An additional example of Unnecessary Positions-During his term, the opponent has created the position of “Detention Deputy”. These positions in theory are staffed by personnel in the jail, who in addition to duties as a jailer, serve as a commissioned peace officer in the movement of prisoners when needed. This position is also described as being stepping stone for people who wish to get into law enforcement full-time. However, here are the problems and my concerns about the necessity of these positions:
1. Pay-These personnel have received deputy pay while performing duties as a jailer. The difference in the two positions is approximately eight thousand dollars per year. How can we economically justify these positions?
2. Some of these personnel have had to be sent to CLEET (Law Enforcement Training) in Ada, Oklahoma for approximately fourteen and a half weeks (576 hours of training). While attending the basic peace office academy, the county continues paying their salary the entire time. We are also required to pay for necessary mental testing prior to the academy which requires an additional expense. In addition, while traveling back and forth to Ada, we provide them a Sheriff’s Office vehicle which adds additional expenses to the Sheriff’s Office.
3. Oklahoma Statute, Title 70 Section 3311 as well as Oklahoma Administrative Code 390:10-1-2. sets forth the minimum certification and employment standards for peace officers in the State of Oklahoma. A peace officer is defined in these documents as a, duly appointed law enforcement officer who is paid for working more than 25 hours per week and duties minimally include all of the following on a fulltime basis: preserving the public peace, preventing crime, protecting life and property, enforcing laws of this state, and executing arrest warrants and search warrants.
Dispatchers and Jailers cannot be certified as peace officers under Oklahoma State Law. Based on the requirements provided, I question the legalities of such appointments. Although this may be a technical question, I am concerned about creating positions which could possibly prove to be legally troubling.
4. Vehicle-Once the detention deputy has returned from CLEET, he/she has a Sheriff’s Office vehicle which adds additional expenses to the Sheriff’s Office.
5. We have had other personnel carrying firearms and acting within the scope of a full-time deputy sheriff, who have not attended the CLEET training within six months as required by law. At the least, we should be consistent however this violation of the law is unacceptable and exposes the taxpayers to a significant amount of liability in a civil lawsuit.
When an employee works overtime, they are given compensatory (comp.) time instead of pay. The employee is able to later use the comp time to take off without a loss of pay. Comp time is a liability and if an employee leaves employment they are paid a lump sum for this liability.
When the opponent took office, he changed patrol shifts as well as implemented a training agreement with the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office. When questioned about the decisions regarding excessive comp time, he answered “we will cross that bridge when we come to it”, approximately a year and a half later, several personnel were ordered to take off of work due to excessive amounts of compensatory time, poor management and poor allocation of resources provided for this situation.
Depending on the situation, comp. time is sometimes just unavoidable especially in the public safety arena. Better management of scheduled activities though can keep this time down. It is illegal under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act to deny or circumvent compensation for personnel that are doing tasks for the benefit of the employer. An employer cannot request an employee “donate” comp time in exchange for attending a law enforcement training conference. Nor can an employer request an employee not claim any additional time for a period of approximately five months in order to attend training. Neither request is appropriate under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
As of mid-June of 2011, we have 7,138 hours of comp time outstanding which represents approximately $132,000.00. Twenty-seven employees have more than 100 hours and eight have more than 200, including one with 299 hours (out of 65 employees). If employees do not take off and burn the time, we as the taxpayers are responsible for paying this amount. I will have to quickly address this problem in order to reduce our financial liability with this issue but I will follow the law!
I expect upon taking office the issuing of an up to date Departmental Policy and Procedure manual in order to provide guidance to actions as well as protection of the employee, the County and other personnel. The opponent has never adopted a Policy manual and has continued to use the previous incumbents Policy and Procedure manual. Having an inadequate or antiquated policy manual significantly exposes us to civil liability in the event of a lawsuit.
We wish in the future to develop an employee evaluation program in order to identify training weaknesses, problems with personnel, as well as encourage successful employees. As opportunities become available, we could assign personnel to assignments which match the personality of the employee. By having trained and qualified personnel dangers of lawsuits are expected to be reduced.
We also intend to look at training directed as certain job specific categories along with reviewing scheduled training to benefit the Sheriff’s Office. In the past, we have paid for the training of personnel for items that we do not even have nor expect to have; this is a waste of our money. At the least, we will immediately identify training weaknesses with personnel and take steps to address those weaknesses.
I wish to explore implementing a crime analysis program in the future. This would allow us to identify problem areas and direct appropriate resources to the area including directed criminal patrol based on specific tangible information. This program could also analyze trends and allow us to more effectively address new methods of criminal activity. Due to the increased amount of information available, having a person to specialize in locating and analyzing this information should allow for increased efficiency. This position could also improve our reporting of statistical information and the management of data which we have responsibility to manage.
We may be able to provide the duties with existing personnel depending on the availabilities of the system and resources. We could also explore the ability of obtain grant funding for the development of this program if we chose to pursue it. Implementing this program would allow us to deliver services in a more efficient and effective manner thereby reducing costs incurred through the budget. Finally, this would be a civilian position which would be cheaper to fill rather than having a commissioned peace officer conducting the job.
We expect to implement a GIS Program in which county data is merged with our data to have a more effective usage of the data. Currently, we do not have access to certain computerized information within the county government that would identify landowners or other relevant information. In the event of an emergency, utilizing this data would reduce time in locating the correct people responsible for property, pipelines, railroad tracks, etc. This information will also provide a specific location for 911 addressing and other relevant data. This information would also aid us in disaster planning or response to a significant incident especially after normal business hours. Having access to the data, would also help the county by having the ability to have updated information from people using the information daily. We may wish to consider connecting this program into the crime/intelligence analyst program in the future for better accountability.
We wish to develop a written long range strategic plan in order to establish long range priorities. Under the plan, we can identify funding sources and provide direction for future planning and implementation of ideas. We plan to pursue grants and with a prioritization of personnel, equipment and resources, this plan would be a guide in what grant sources may be available.
Currently, there is not a defined plan on what items to purchase or what goals we wish to accomplish. A long range plan would let all personnel know the goals and what direction we wish to take. This plan would also assist us during the budgeting process in which we could gradually fund long range goals instead of attempting to identify funding for a large ticket purchase.
When a Social Security or SSI recipient is placed in jail their benefits are supposed to be suspended by the Social Security Administration. In most cases, Social Security or SSI benefits cannot be paid to people who are in prisons or other public institutions. The Social Security Administration has adopted an incentive program in which the Sheriff’s Office can receive $400.00 if we notify them within 30 days of confinement, or $200.00 if they are notified after 30 days but within 90 days of confinement.
The Sheriff’s Office has used the program in the past but for approximately the last two years, we have not participated therefore losing the ability to receive income. This is not acceptable and I will ensure we are participating in the program and receiving the necessary money which can be wisely used within the Sheriff’s Office. Supposedly, the new records management system will correct this issue but ultimately the Sheriff is responsible to ensure we are operating properly and efficiently. To see more about the program, I have attached two links:
Incentive payments for State and Local institutions under the Social Security Programs: http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10088.html
Another area in which we have lost income is related to the collection of DNA samples. Oklahoma law (22 O.S. 991A.J.) requires DNA samples be collected from persons upon convicted of a number of crimes. The testing kits are provided at no cost by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, for each person tested the Sheriff’s Office receives $15.00. Other than a handful of samples collected approximately a year and a half ago, no other samples have been collected and no personnel are trained in the collection and submission procedures. Besides the legal requirement regarding collection of DNA, this material may assist in the solving of a variety of crimes as techniques are evolving in the law enforcement field.
We will need to evaluate the number of vehicles in the fleet and the necessity and condition of those vehicles. Since the opponent has come into office, he has increased the fleet from approximately 58 vehicles to nearly 100. Considering there are approximately thirty-eight full time commissioned people (an increase of approximately six), I wish to review the assignment of these vehicles. In addition, many of these vehicles have significant amount of miles and until just recently the opponent has not disposed of any vehicles. Coupled with a long range vision, I wish to adopt a rotation of the vehicles in order that we do not keep vehicles that continue to cost more than they are worth.
In approximately the later part of 2010, I proposed obtaining military surplus Humvee vehicles for use during winter weather as well as responses to river operations or other rough terrain, inaccessible by our patrol cars. This idea was dismissed until Sheriff John Whetsel of Oklahoma County announced to the media, in approximately February of 2011 that he had received two, for eight hundred dollars apiece. At that point, the opponent voiced an interest in obtaining these vehicles but to date, he has not received any.
During our last winter storm, we had three 4x4 vehicles working significant hours responding to stranded motorists, accidents and other calls for service. My proposal was to obtain these vehicles and with the advanced weather warning we receive, place them in strategic locations from which they could respond. Upon taking office, I intend to pursue obtaining these vehicles and adequately equipping them for emergency situations. At a cost of eight hundred dollars, we could not even buy a patrol car for that amount of money. I will say that I do not intend to use them for daily operations but during inclement weather periods or in terrain where there usage is necessary.
Another related issue is, more than two years ago, we sent two deputies out of state to pick up a former FEMA trailer to be used as a command post. To date, this trailer has not had any work done on it and has sat where it was parked when it was brought in. Other than honoring our commitment to the usage, we are out a transfer fee from the federal government, the salary of two personnel traveling to obtain the trailer, the wear and tear on the vehicle as well as the fuel, along with the expense of the trip which accompanied the travel such as food, etc. I believe and will expect financial expenditures should be justifiable and necessary.
Finally, in the future, I would like to change the logos of the marked vehicles to reflect a more modern and professional looking image. Often times, the first impression to the public is the marked vehicles and the message in which it conveys. Through phasing in, a more modern and professional image, those impressions can be impacted with a message that reflects the steps we are truly taking.
We wish to increase the number of Reserve Deputies in order to augment personnel on the “street”. Hours of work performed by these personnel will not cost the county any money and will provide us with additional visibility and resources. The opponent promised this during his campaign but despite having two reserve academies, we still do not have more working personnel than before. We believe better selection, recruitment, and retention of personnel will allow us the ability to have adequate personnel. We also wish in the future to look at ways to compensate them for some of the out of pocket expenses incurred.
We wish to consider the implementation of a Sheriff’s Posse Program which is discussed in later portions of this document (in Issues-Criminal Enforcement). This program would be minimal in cost and could provide us with additional resources.
We wish to consider in the future obtaining a 501c3 status for either the Reserve program or Sheriff’s Posse in order to provide equipment and programs to the citizens of the County. A number of foundations provide funding which we could utilize in our efforts but require the status for donation purposes.
If you have ideas on how we can increase efficiency, please let us know, drop us an e-mail (beaty4sheriff@gmail.com) with your ideas. Thanks in advance, we appreciate your help and support.
It is not our intent to “air dirty laundry” or make disparaging remarks about the incumbent in the information provided in the issues section. I am attempting to educate the voters on the specific issues and explain how we plan to improve, correct, or cease the action in order to have a more effective, efficient and professional sheriff’s office that we should all expect. It is our sincere desire to have a professional respectful campaign discussing issues without personal attacks or unethical behavior. While we may disagree, I will strive to have humility, understanding, and respect for an opposing point of view. Thank you for your time and interest in being a better educated voter.
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