The true value of CALEA to Beaufort County, or maybe,  the true cost to Beaufort County.

According to the CALEA website (http://www.calea.org) the benefits to the Sheriff's Office include "greater accountability within the agency", "reduced risk and liability exposure", and "stronger defense against civil lawsuits". There are two others listed, support from government officials (county commissioners) and "increased community advocacy".

The county commissioners, for the most part, take action based on information given to them - in the case of CALEA it was pushed by the Sheriff. Hood Richardson, at the time, called CALEA a club - I agree with that perception.

"Increased community advocacy": community support... that's a hard topic, mainly due to the public not being aware of what goes on in the county and at BCSO. The Sheriff's lack of support for the citizens is seen by those on the inside, a failure to answer media questions (latest: involving a patrol vehicle accident) or by standing idle while fueling  rumors about other agency heads - lying by omission. Support? Only through deception.

"Greater accountability within the agency", "reduced risk and liability exposure", and "stronger defense against civil lawsuits"... all of which do nothing but protect the Sheriff, most of the time worded to leave the deputy holding the liability. This does nothing to promote job satisfaction or job security for officers.

COST:

According to the CALEA website (http://www.calea.org) the initial fee for an agency the size of BCSO is $8,400. This buys us the "template" to re-write the Sheriff Office policy, to correct security issues with the building itself and with physical security of dispatchers  and communications, to increase documentation of calls and paperwork for officers.

BCSO installed new doorway security to prevent outsiders from roaming into the office and the windows in communications that opened into the parking lot are covered with steel. These are valid security problems that needed addressing, I think an even larger problem is that the Sheriff had to have them pointed out to him by a nongovernment organization (or club) from another state.

The cost of the security improvements to the building is an estimate due to actual figures being in the sole custody of the BCSO and not the county office. It is my guess that the special glass doors with programmable locks and the large steel plates bolted to the building walls (covering windows) conservatively cost over $10,000. I'm sure there are other areas that were also "updated" at additional cost.

The two year task of juggling CALEA paperwork and meeting their "standards" occupied the (county) time of at least one investigator... that happened to be a lieutenant paid as an investigator supervisor. There were others involved in the process and paid to go on CALEA junkets throughout the year - at the county's expense. Although one or two investigators may be assigned to CALEA compliance on a full time basis, there are other expenses (besides other personnel) that follow that process - payroll, benefits, county car, fuel, equipment, on and on.

It is estimated that Sheriff Jordan spent over $250,000 in the first stage of becoming CALEA compliant. The cost far outweighed any benefit CALEA could have shown the citizens of Beaufort County. There is a point, called the "law of diminishing returns", as one variable (money) increases and another variable (CALEA) remains the same - at some point further addition to the first (money) reduces the overall return (benefit).  Here's an example;

Simply put, adding R-30 insulation to your attic is worth the money spent; adding R-60 is wasting money because the cost is more than you would ever save in utility bills. Any advantage CALEA might have been to the citizens would be slight - even if it were free, at a cost of a quarter of a million dollars (and growing) the benefits have long passed.

Standards. I've heard and read comments stating that CALEA gives BCSO "standards". I've read the current policy, the old policy, and the policy from 12 years ago, I can tell you that little has changed other than the administration deflecting responsibility. There has always been policy and policy should be a guide that allows officers to adapt to provide a needed response. That is what professionals do, they adapt and meet the needs.

In my view, if you haven't guessed by now, CALEA is a waste of Beaufort County tax dollars.  There is a reason why 97 out of 100 Sheriff's in North Carolina DO NOT have CALEA (type 3). It overloads the SO with paperwork, diminishes Beaufort County deputy job satisfaction, and it takes county money away from other worthwhile programs.

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WASTE of RESOURCES.

It's sad when resources are wasted. Regardless of our economic situation at the time, resources that have to be replaced with tax dollars robs from the citizens in order to correct the mistakes made by, in this case, the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office.

I will attempt to briefly state problems and what I WILL DO to fix and correct known problems once elected Sheriff of Beaufort County.

Waste of personnel:   

The turnover of deputies and investigators is appalling. This hurts the efficiency of the Sheriff's Office by replacing seasoned officers with new inexperienced deputies.  Now, of course, there is nothing wrong with having new officers filtering in, everybody has a starting point. The problem arises when the majority of the patrol officers are new, when the deputy that responds to your 911 call has less than a year of experience.   Right now the BCSO is short on manpower, shifts may "work the county" with only two or three officers.  This puts the deputies a risk, as well as the citizens of Beaufort County.  

Court papers pile up in the office just to be returned to the courthouse after the court date, slowing the court process and wasting tax payers money and time.  Investigators are not being sent on assignments or called out to investigate crimes in the county.  The Sheriff was using the excuse that the county commissioners wouldn't fund additional officers and investigators - this was and is NOT TRUE,  the commissioners chastised BCSO for such a tactic. There was funding for manpower and investigators -  just no one willing to work under Jordan.

The Sheriff's Office is heavy on office supervisors. Most days there are more supervisors (in the office or gym) than patrol deputies on the road, yet, I have not seen supervisors out serving court papers or warrants. However,  I did see a supervisor working the law enforcement "arrangement" with Belhaven, making overtime off Belhaven's tax payers. I feel the town of Belhaven was taken advantage of by the Sheriff in their time of need. Belhaven is part of Beaufort County and should have been treated as such.

As Sheriff, I plan to remove obstacles that stand in the way of officers carrying out their duties and protecting Beaufort County. I will remove wasteful spending and ego-driven policies that do not serve the best interest of the citizens of Beaufort County - the TAX PAYERS.  



ABOVE:   BCSO cars with no deputies to drive them, an example of wasted resources!