June 2009 - From Sheriff Paul's Web Site
On February 18, 2009 Sgt. Ron Ryan an 18 year veteran showed up for firearms training with alcohol on his breath. He was terminated on May 12, 2009 following an internal affairs investigation which revealed he had a BAC of .120 while on duty and in uniform.
On May 14, 2009 Dispatcher Brittany Beauchamp was terminated for failing to follow her supervisor’s instructions and for un-truthfulness after she was found to have lied during the investigation.
Direct Report writing: In the past, PCSO reports were written by a deputy or detective and the supervisor may approve and 8-10 secretaries would perform a quality control checks and upload the final report into Spillman (law enforcement report writing system).
On May 14, 2009 Detention Officer Brian Hernandez was terminated after an internal investigation into an off duty DUI arrest revealed that he had been dishonest throughout the investigation multiple times as well as for his dishonesty with Department of Public Safety Officers during the arrest.
PCSO'S operation and customer service had been adversely impacted from backlogged law enforcement reports, which numbered as high as 10,000 un-entered or not fully completed reports. This inefficiency had subsequently harmed operations, by denying the information and intelligence contained in these reports in order to pro-actively fight crime. Furthermore, the information can not be accessed by the 13 other law enforcement agencies in Pinal County and other who utilize the Spillman report system.
We changed the report writing process and eliminated the third step. Deputies now write the final draft and the supervisor approves the report for uploading into Spillman. As of this past Thursday, we are completely caught up and have zero backlogged reports. We have achieved this through the diligent work of our administrative support staff entering in these past due reports.
This has resulted in improved customer service to the citizens, by eliminating needless delay in obtaining their public report. The timely entering of criminal reports into Spillman has also allowed law enforcement the benefit of the needed information on criminal statistics, patterns of crime and hot spots, thus allowing law enforcement to be pro-active in order to best protect Pinal County families.
Jail Operations Assessment: Our first ever assessment of our Jail Operations has been completed in January at my request and a written assessment has been provided to Chief James Kimble and Jail Commanders. This was not a financial audit, but a complete top to bottom assessment of our operations and we were measured against the American Correctional Association (ACA) standards. The audit assessed every aspect of our Jail, including but not limited to: security, record keeping, key/tool/chemical control, correctional healthcare practices, equipment inspections, food service operations, staff training and staffing (scheduling and supervisors). We now have a road map to move ahead, with clearly identified strengths, areas that need improvement and failings.
Jail staffing improvements have been approved which will ensure command supervision 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This improvement will not result in increased costs, but will allow for on site supervision by a Lieutenant during nights and on weekends.
We have changed past policy regarding misdemeanor booking of suspects. PCSO now allows all Pinal County Deputies and local Police Officers to book misdemeanors. In the past, local officers were limited in their enforcement ability, where a motorist driving on a suspended Driver’s License could not be arrested and booked. A trespasser could not be arrested and taken to jail. A person involved in disorderly conduct or fighting could not be taken away, nor a person causing criminal damage – unless it was a felony. This has changed – officers now have the ability and are encouraged to take any enforcement action that they believe is necessary.
Dispatch Manager: We have hired Jennifer Foster Dispatch Manager position that Sandy Gilstad has maintained as an additional duty to her 911 manager duties. We shall hire two additional Dispatch Supervisors by July 1st - who will be working supervisors. This will provide the proper staffing required supporting two channels 24/7.
If Dispatch is only able to staff one channel - then everyone is on one channel and most radio traffic is restricted. That is the problem that we are trying to fix. We still need to conduct business and communicate regarding every other dispatched call and ensure we keep every other Patrol Deputy and supervisor safe.
This is why we are working to get a 2nd channel operational 24/7. I fully understand there are many problems with the lack of adequate communications. We need more staff, improved Dispatch training, need for quality portable radios (Statue of Liberty pose) and repeaters to allow for county wide use of all channels.
On May 11, 2009 Deputy Cardest James was terminated following an lengthy internal affairs investigation into numerous violations to failures to maintain Intoxylizer 8000 records for several months which resulted in the dismissal of numerous DUI cases, for providing a civilian observer a loaded shot-gun during a police involved shooting incident on October 18, 2008 and exposing the civilian to a potential deadly situation. Deputy James made numerous false statements to internal affairs investigators throughout the investigation. Deputy James also engaged in a confrontation, off duty, with a member of the public identifying himself as a Deputy with the Sheriff’s Office.
Our emergency response time for a Deputy to a Priority #1 Emergency call is 13.6 minutes. Response times for a Priority #2 Urgent call remains over 18 minutes. This is unacceptable and is why we have added more Deputies to the road to answer your emergency calls and reduce our response times. Many citizens have observed an increased presence by our Patrol Deputies in their communities. We are working harder and we are working smarter.
Drug Seizures: We have stepped up enforcement against drug smugglers and intend to seize their money and assets. Our drug seizures have nearly quadrupled in the past three months and we have seized over 73 vehicles from these criminals in the first three months of 2009. We shall take the criminals’ dirty money and vehicles and use them for law enforcement purposes to add to our limited financial resources during this budget crisis. We are using RICO funds (money and property seized from criminal racketeering) for new motorcycles (approx $56k), for the new lease of our proposed San Tan Sub-station on Ironwood/Ocotillo area (approx $80k) for SWAT equipment and to fund specialized training.
Computers or Mobile Data Terminals (MDTs): We started with on 29 MDTs in our patrol vehicles. Today we have 91 MDTs in Patrol vehicles and more enroute. The Sheriff’s Office recently added 44 new vehicles to our fleet, each equipped with new wireless computers, enabling Deputies to write reports in the field. We are also going through the vendor selection process or "Request for Proposal" (RFP) to select the latest & greatest model/features for Law Enforcement MDTs.
