JUST SOME OF
THE CONCERNS WE SEE, HEAR, AND FEEL....
As an area law officer, I see and hear about public safety and governmental issues on a daily basis, both good and bad. Unfortunately, the 'bad' security concerns have dramatically outweighed the good during the last several years here in Laclede County.
It is my intent to not jab at anyone personally, but in order to address the issues, you sometimes need to be blunt and to the point.
The fact being that the current sheriff administration has taken a "business as usual" course is unacceptable! This course and the "good 'ole boy" routines have never served us well.
There are a lot of things that need to be fixed in Laclede County. Our current Sheriff has been in office 8 years....what's changed? How much has really been improved? Many people I am talking to don't feel things are headed in the right direction. *Please make your own decision by educating yourself with the facts.*
As I sat and originally typed much of this (in late 2007) I knew that some things would have the appearance of 'getting better' in 2008. Why? Because 2008 is the election year! We have already begun to see an upswing of newspaper articles and radio spots with the current Sheriff's name. But the fact is that the Sheriff and his office should be open, active, and visible every day of every year. The prevention of crime, the education of our kids in school, saving lives on our streets & county highways, and protecting you and your property should be what we're reading and hearing about daily.... not the all-to-routine victimization of our community.... not the all-to-routine death.
I am tired of the thefts. I am tired of the increasing violence. I am tired of the traffic fatalities. I hear these same concerns over and over from people all around our county!! (
....We need a new direction in our county.)
I would like to take a minute to address a few of the biggest problems I hear from you, my neighbors:
PROBLEM: NOT ACTIVELY TRACKING SEX OFFENDERS IN LACLEDE COUNTY
In a November 27, 2007 article featured in the Lebanon Daily Record, Sheriff Richard Wrinkle stated that his 'department does not have the funding or the time to go and check on [registered sex] offenders, which creates an area for abuse'.
A check of the state's records show Sheriff Wrinkle has 66 people commissioned as deputy sheriffs. I am one of those people, along with several other area officers... who are commissioned with a 'don't do anything' deputy badge. Unlike in most counties in Missouri, Richard Wrinkle has failed - in 8 years as Sheriff - to establish a program to actively use volunteer officers. Maybe this, combined with the lack of successful human resource management, has led to this claimed 'lack of time'. I cannot see where the department's funding is a direct issue.
It scares me, that with the high-level risk many of these registered offenders pose, we are essentially doing nothing to keep on top of the issue. It should be a concern to you that these offenders could easily be lying on their [currently] un-verified paperwork and actually living near and "stalking" our children's schools, daycares, and playgrounds! (See our plans for improvement page.)
PROBLEM:
MISMANAGEMENT OF OUR COUNTY JAIL
In 2007, in a twist to a infamous case, an inmate hung himself in our county jail. There were approximately 9, yes NINE, hours where this person's well-being was unaccounted for. Not doing what we're supposed to do, whether in this case or another, presents a serious liability risk to our county (...and your tax dollars). Our jail is directly managed and staffed by the Sheriff.
The national standard is to check your inmates in 20-25 minute increments (making visible inspections of each inmate). Detainees categorized as 'high risk' are supposed to be checked even more often. Why is it that there was a 9 hour lapse in checking the prisoners? Why were regular jail checks not being done like they're supposed to be? It is NOT a human resource issue; it is a management issue. There needs to be accountability in our sheriff's office. Accountability starts at the top.
I cannot speak directly about this case. However, these types of cases can actually cost the jurisdiction a lot of money in lawsuits and legal fees because, even though people are jailed, they are still people! The Sheriff's team is still responsible for taking steps to ensure their safety and well-being. While unfortunate things such as this can (and may) happen in the future, you MUST make good-faith efforts towards their prevention.
Another concern I have is where a former jail employee is currently charged with sexual relationships with a prisoner. This is a felony violation. Furthermore, I have heard several more unverified reports of other such acts and violations. I will not discuss these further, as I would have no way to verify these. The fact remains that this type of thing cannot be occurring. If there are bad apples, now or in the future, they need to be fired, investigated, and criminally charged. Again.... there needs to be accountability!
Regardless of the person involved, we need to ensure our jail is ran with punishment in mind BUT these people still need to be treated with fairness and concern, regardless of the mistakes they've made in life. Family members and visitors need to be treated with respect when they come to visit their loved ones. I will make this our goal. (See our plans for improvement page.)
PROBLEM:
THE SHERIFF REMOVED 'DARE' FROM OUR SCHOOLS!
One of the first things done by the Sheriff (about 8 years ago) was the elimination of funding for the DARE drug/violence resistance education program in our Laclede County Schools.
Why was this done????? Whatever excuses might come out soon, the reality is that the program didn't need to be destroyed.
Some people will argue that DARE doesn't make sense. They will say it's ineffective. They will say it costs too much. But, if it saves even ONE of our kids from a life of drugs or violence, it will be justified in my mind! Only when someone can ensure me that Laclede County is 100% drug and violence free (which will never happen) should we consider a move like this. In the meantime, we need to look at re-implementing this type of program as promptly as possible. (See our plans for improvement page.)
PROBLEM: WHERE ARE THE DEPUTIES WHEN YOU NEED HELP? WE ARE ALSO CONCERNED ABOUT THEIR TRAINING AND EQUIPMENT.
People have complained to me that the responsiveness of the sheriff's deputies to calls is very sluggish... sometimes having to wait overnight- and sometimes longer- for a deputy to come out. I've even been told that sometimes no-one ever came! When they have shown up, people have complained to me they're either ill equipped or ill trained.
When a deputy is not available, is this truly due to a lack of manpower (remember... 66 deputies) or just mismanagement and misuse of the readily available resources?
There are many day shifts where 2 to 4 deputies, the sheriff himself, and 4 to 5 courthouse-assigned deputies are all working at the same time. The evening and night shifts often consist of only ONE deputy to cover the 766 square miles of our county. Does this make good sense? Do calls for help stop at 4pm? Do our thieves all go home before dark?
Why are the deputies, who finally get to the scenes, not always equipped and/or trained to take even the most basic evidence (DNA, Fingerprints, photographs)? If you don't start an investigation right... it will never end right! We will hear the argument that they have the equipment and that the training is in place. However, I know from my own experiences in this county that they're not! (See our plans for improvement page.)
PROBLEM:
OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILIES ARE DYING ON OUR ROADS!
From 1996 - 2006, we have seen 106 people killed in Laclede County Traffic Crashes. Our fatality rate grew 3% from 2005 to 2006. Unlike many surrounding counties, Laclede County's Sheriff has failed to develop a traffic safety program in his 8 years. In area counties with traffic enforcement visibility, most saw a decrease in fatalities... Phelps County -11%, Camden County -5%, and Dallas County -9%.
Saving lives on our highways is not solely "the job of the highway patrol". The Sheriff is legally responsible for all law enforcement in the county. Passing the blame to someone else / another agency is not appropriate. Working together to help solve the problem is the answer!
Traffic Safety Enforcement doesn't automatically mean tickets. It often means simple visibility; it sometimes mean stopping and reminding safe drivers, like you and me, that we goofed and need to be more careful.... hopefully preventing us from hurting ourselves or others!
Visibility and effort in traffic safety has rewards! Besides saving our lives, it is a known fact that the more contacts the deputies have with motorists, the more drugs and stolen items are going to be located & seized off the street. You have to work. You have to go out and look for it.... because it's certainly not coming to you. The drugs and stolen property moving through our county are not getting from 'Point A' to 'Point B' on foot. We need to be out looking for it and checking vehicles. (See our plans for improvement page.)
PROBLEM:
THE SHERIFF LACKS ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE 911 CENTER.
In a November 23, 2007 article featured in the Lebanon Daily Record, Sheriff Wrinkle told us that '[The Sheriff's 911 center] has a problem when there is a major event... [they] get overloaded with calls. Dispatch can't do their dispatching jobs because they are answering 911 calls. [They] have to get the 911 calls to know where the problem is... In the case of a major fire, there are so many calls that [they] can't dispatch tones for fire departments because [they] are taking your 100th caller about the fire." In this article, the current mayor of Lebanon talked about the city possibly opening a 911 center on its own because of continued staffing and equipment concerns at the Sheriff's county-wide 911 facility.
I received a complaint of a Laclede County 'Sheriff's Victim' who called 9-1-1 THREE times, over a period of 30+ minutes, before the fire department was actually dispatched.... all this while his property burned in front of him. We should all consider the seriousness of this.......as this could easily have been one of us! Remember ALL 911 calls in Lebanon are routed to this sheriff's 911 center. Don't think you're immune just because you live in the city!
My own sister called 9-1-1 in Laclede County within the last few months and her 911 call NEVER GOT ANSWERED! The phone rang 12 times before she gave up! I am soooooo thankful her attempted call was something not completely life-threatening or severe!
Is opening a city 911 center the answer? My opinion is absolutely not! Why should the citizens of Lebanon foot yet another bill for something they're already paying for? There's at least 2 dispatchers assigned to be working at all times. Continued improvements in the existing 911 center's training and coordination will cut down (and hopefully eliminate) these significant system failures. An "oh well" or "business as usual" approach won't help fix problems.
To any dispatcher that reads this: I do NOT blame any one of you personally for these types of failures. We need to train and equip you to do the job right. I don't want to point fingers. I want to be in a position of leadership, help you, and be accountable to our neighbors.
If equipment and/or staffing are legitimate issues, maybe we could start wisely spending the monies that are "stored" in the bank... money which is legally designated for use only in/on the 911 dispatch center. That is why we agreed to pay the 911 fees in the first place! (See our plans for improvement page.)
REMEMBER: PLEASE SEE OUR "PLANS FOR IMPROVEMENT" PAGE
These are just some of your concerns that I have heard and share. Please contact me with your thoughts. I remain open and want to hear from you!
