Chapter 7

I had gotten almost to the garage when I remembered that my unit had no call sign, and I had forgotten to tell Andy how many keys I wanted for each lock change. I did a U-turn and headed back to the department. I came through the front door and there was not a soul in sight. I heard the sound of raised voices coming from Andy's office and headed that way.

The sight that greeted my eyes was an impromptu meeting of about all the civilian employees with a few uniforms mixed in. I listened in as they were grilling Andy about their jobs, if they were going to be let go, and all the questions that were asked when new leadership took over. I listened for a little bit then stepped forward and cleared my throat loudly.

"Listen up, people, you have nothing to worry about when it comes to your jobs. If you were all let go this department would come to a stop for months until we could train new people. There will be some changes in the civilian workforce but nothing drastic like a mass layoff. The new sheriff will be doing most of it when he comes on board. I will be having a meeting with all employees and updating the personnel files and having a look at job descriptions and this type of thing. All of you are worried about the future and you have a right to be. As you all know; any department depends on its civilian employees because they practically run the department. Now let's get back to work and keep the place running smoothly like you always have from your end."

They filed out and many had smiles and relief on their faces. I had been through all this before when I took over another department, many years ago. I knew how they felt as a lot of just elected sheriffs fired all the civilian employees and hired all new. I had always been against this type of thing because in the long run it always cost more to retrain than to keep the experienced ones in place, doing what they knew best.

"Thanks, Harry, I had no idea how to answer their questions. The locksmith will be here from Reno in the morning around nine. He offered us a good rate and I would like to have him sign a voucher for future work. He is a young guy just starting up and was recommended by the department in Reno. They say he prefers to work for law enforcement exclusively since he is a wounded on duty deputy on medical pension. I also just talked to the local Wal-Mart store and they offered the department a very good rate on instant cameras and VCRs for the cruisers. They even said that they would recommend someone that would give us a break on installation. I have been trying for years to get them installed, but the old sheriff was too secretive and didn't want any record made about the unit's activities."

"Andy, if you do this, make sure they are of the locking type so only authorized personnel will be able to remove and replace the tapes. Also make sure they are the constant time date stamp type of recorder with voice records built in. I want every angle covered and a strict set of guidelines set up for them. The officers with something to hide are going to have a fit about them being in their cars. Remember, Andy, always cover your ass when you introduce anything new in a department that has fought against modern equipment."

"Thanks again Harry for the help with the personnel. I have a bunch more calls to make and then we need to sit down and talk about the equipment we are going to put in the new four wheel drives when we order them. I am getting bids from the different dealers now, but the dealer that always got the job is going to have a fit when he finds out he will not have the exclusive contract anymore."

"Let him bid on it like everyone else. He probably was paying a kick back to the sheriff anyway. That's usually how it's done in a small town. I have been through this before and if you encounter any problems, tell them to come talk to me. I will lay it out so they can understand the new rules in this department. Hell, Andy, when you make changes to a system that has been in place for fifty years, it gets everyone in the pocket book in some way or another. Andy you are a captain with this department. You are going to have to be more assertive or would you rather be a civilian under contract? That is your choice to make and I bet you can make more money as a civilian than as a captain. Think about it, Andy. I will keep you in rank, but to be truthful with you, I don't think you like being in charge and just want to do the job you spent years in college learning how to do."

"Harry, if we did that can I keep my active status and maybe be in charge of the reserve deputies? I would love to clean it out because most of them are the sheriff's relatives and only use their badge for their own gain. I have wanted to weed it out since I started but was told to leave them to their own devices and not to interfere with the way they do things."

"I would be overjoyed to have you act in that status. I want you to handle all contracts, the purchasing of equipment, and writing of federal grants for equipment and emergency vehicles and this type of thing. I have contacts I can use to get the department a lot of things that are too expensive to buy outright. I especially want to see if we can get the scrambled radios and walkie-talkies. That way the citizens will not be able to hear our every movement and where the patrol units are. You let me know what you decide and make a recommendation who should be promoted to captain."

"Harry, I think you should start on the personnel files tomorrow. When you run your background checks on all the deputies, you will lose two sergeants and probably all three lieutenants. I can't see any way they will be able to pass the check. There are going to be a lot of promotions coming up and I think you should consider Shorty as the new captain. He has seniority and he is good at what he does with the personnel. He never made any waves to bring him to the old sheriff's attention and he knows where all the bodies are buried. We don't have a jail for you to worry about because it was built jointly by our county and the next county over. It is run by a private company that also runs several prisons all over the west."

"Have there been any problems with the prisoners, like mistreatment or anything like that?"

"No, and the state keeps a close eye on them. The sheriff always bitched about it because he had no way to make any money from it. The county sharing it with us just had the same shakeup we are having with a new sheriff being elected. He has really gotten his department together and he runs it straight."

"How many men are we short in the county Andy? From what I have seen this department is short at least twenty men from the size of the county."

"More like twenty-five to bring us up to state minimum. We are short on cars, equipment and personnel. That's how the old sheriff made his money. Nothing was ever said because he ran the county under his rules and if you complained you didn't get elected to another term. That's the way things were run here for the last forty years or so. I don't pretend to like or agree with it but I think you and the new sheriff are about to change a lot of those ideas and habits."

"It's not a matter of change, but just being honest and being proud to belong to a department that is smooth and run for everyone. People have to learn we are here for them and not for our own personal gains. Hopefully before we are done, they will have as much pride in their department as we do, Andy."

I bid him goodbye and went to the radio room and almost ran over Pinky who was rushing out the door for our meeting.

"Man Harry, I thought I was going to miss meeting you. I have all the plans we talked about earlier. I have been finishing them all afternoon."

"Come into the office, Pinky. I have some news that I think will make your whole month. I am going to have the sheriffs personal office converted to the new combination radio and nine one one center. They will be combined and the room will be air conditioned and soundproofed. All this space here will be the investigator's offices and the sheriff will have this office."

"Harry's you have made my whole year. We should have been separated from the department years ago. I only ask that you find a deputy for each shift to advise us on the law and codes on some of the calls we receive. Half the time we are guessing what department to send the alarm to. The deputy could help us to separate between law, fire and hospital."

"Well Pinky, I think we can make that happen and get some new more comfortable headphones for your people to work with. Those things look to be about twenty years out of date. Hell you can't even go to the coffee machine without taking the headsets off. You should be able to unplug, go the machine and plug back in to resume your work."

"Harry if you can swing that, these people will worship at your feet. Most of these people have been here for years being treated like pariahs by the deputies. These people are the ones that make a lot of difference to you guys in the field."

"I agree a hundred percent, Pinky. I had my ass saved by a cool thinking dispatcher several times. I will be the first one to applaud their work and believe me, they will have their kudos before I am done. From now on every rookie will have to work a month in here before they go out on patrol. That way they will learn to appreciate the effort put into making them safe on the street."