Direction and Guidelines for Sworn Officers
Sheriff J. L. Yeates - January 2007
-Reduce crime and
the fear of crime.
-Establish a
solid partnership with the citizenry to create safe and secure communities.
-Provide a knowledgeable
staff that ensures professional commitment to law enforcement,
is focused and dedicated to the citizens and
communities and uses imagination, innovation
and
resourcefulness.
-Provide high
quality, cost effective, accountable services.
-Standards for
law enforcement must include Fair Access, Public Trust, Safety and Security,
Coordinated
Team Work with officers and citizens and Community Involvement/Responsibility.
Nothing will be as
important in my tenure as Sheriff as community relations. Most of the
citizens of this county may have only one
contact with an officer in their life.
Their perception of our department and me personally comes from that
contact. Contact with law enforcement
is, for most people, a highly unusual event and is remembered for a long
time. I expect every citizen who has
contact with an officer to leave with the feeling they were dealt with by a
competent, knowledgeable, well-trained professional who was polite and
courteous. In addition, a citizen making
a complaint should feel the officer did everything they could to solve the case
or find a resolution. Most important is
to follow up, even if that means nothing has developed in their case. If they need a question answered and you
don't know, find out and call them back.
If you refer them to another agency or department, give them a phone
number and a contact name.
Law
enforcement is a profession. Professions
require schooling to achieve certification,
continuing education requirements,
specializations, decertification, etc.
By definition, you are a professional.
Take pride in your dress and appearance.
Please represent yourself like a professional to the public and others in your
profession.
Professionals
train constantly. The 40 hours a year
required by POST barely covers keeping
your various certifications current.
Find and request training in your weak areas. Become an expert or instructor in your
strengths. Care about what is going on
in law enforcement and keep up with current trends. I will support training that gives technical
expertise and instructor status with the understanding
that budget and benefit to the department are considerations. Expect to come back from training and teach
what you learned to the department.
A
law enforcement officer's authority and power to take away a citizens
constitutional rights is unmatched
anywhere in our society. Never, ever
abuse this privilege or the position of trust you hold. Your word is your bond and should be in all
your dealings.
In
return, you can expect from me that I will support training, programs,
equipment and a pay scale which represent professional policing. I understand that no one knows how to do a
job better than the one doing it. I want
your input and feedback, through your supervisor, on what’s being done right
and what needs improvement.
I will follow the
chain of command and expect you to do the same.
Expectations and Guidelines for
Supervisors
Sheriff J. L. Yeates - January 2007
-Reduce crime and the fear of crime.
-Establish a solid partnership with
the citizenry to create safe and secure communities.
-Provide a knowledgeable staff that ensures
professional commitment to law enforcement,
is focused and dedicated to the citizens and
communities and uses imagination, innovation
and resourcefulness.
-Provide high quality, cost
effective, accountable services.
-Standards for law enforcement must
include Fair Access, Public Trust, Safety and Security,
Coordinated Team Work with
officers and citizens and Community Involvement/Responsibility.
The Sheriff's job is to give a
direction, focus and philosophy for the Department. The supervisor's job is to figure out how to
make it happen. First line supervisors
know their people and their job better than I.
I expect you and your people to come up with the ideas to achieve the
goals for the Department. I certainly
have some specific ideas and plans but you are the expert in your area and are
expected to take care of the details. Be
innovative, be resourceful and be imaginative.
A bigger budget and more people is the common answer to most issues in
any division. That is not original
thinking. I will make sure that growth
in the Department correlates with growth in the county. Getting more than that
is unrealistic. Find a solution with the
resources currently assigned to you.
In your dealings with your subordinates:
-Be fair.
-Document everything.
-Write as many Letters of
Commendation as you do Disciplinary Letters.
-If
they are wrong, quickly but thoroughly, take the appropriate disciplinary
action.
If they are right, back them up.
-Explain the reason for
changes. People will buy into an idea
much easier when they understand the why
behind it.
-Make sure information flows up and
down the chain of command.
-Listen to their ideas and give them
the credit for the good ones.
-Showing them is better than telling
them.