Partnerships Are Important!

As Danville F.O.P. President, Mike awards a check to former
Pittsylvania County Sheriff Harold Plaster and slain Deputy Frankie Betterton's  wife Mary to help buy in car cameras.

 The First Three Issues:

*Issue: Sheriff Deputies Booking Suspects

Let me start by saying that the Sheriff's Offices in Martinsville, Roanoke, and Lynchburg already fingerprint and photograph suspects when they are arrested. I want to bring the Danville Sheriff's Office up to speed on this issue and better serve the citizens of Danville. The arrest information entered into the system is completed three times between the efforts of the Police Department and the Sheriff's Office. Once technology is leveraged, both agencies will benefit from the same information. Two agencies entering the same data multiple times is not a good use of taxpayer money and not a good use of your time. Police Officers are paid to protect the citizens of Danville. If they are tied up in the jail, they are not on the street. Between the booking and classification, processes, the same data is entered multiple times. I want to streamline the process to maximize the information you enter, and make the best use of your time.

We can use the models of the jurisdictions mentioned above to implement our own procedure that works for our agency. The Deputies will have say so and input into the process before any procedure is put into place.

*Issue: Road School

In recent forums and debates,  I have said that in the event that a Virginia Tech type tragedy occurs, the Danville Sheriff's Office will need to be prepared to respond. That means that civil processors or other personnel who are available are trained to respond if necessary with other agencies for the purpose of public safety. Despite excellent existing staff and procedures in place in our educational institutions, an issue like the Virgina Tech tragedy could feasibly happen tomorrow in Danville. The victims won't care if you are a civil process server, transportation officer, or a sheriff, they will want you to respond and help save their lives. Basic firearms training is not enough to accomplish this task.

There is grant money available to defer any costs associated with this training, and much of it can be done in house or with other agencies. When was the last time the JETT Team and SWAT Team trained together for a jail riot or mass escape? We have resources available to us through our own agencies and academy to prepare us for this type of situation.
If we don't plan for failure, we plan to fail.

*Issue: PD Officers Displacing Deputies

This has been a rumor since day one when I filed to run for Sheriff. The Danville City Sheriff's Office currently has dedicated, qualified employees who have many talents. I have no intention to displace Deputies or staff who are doing their jobs and are  doing their part to move the Sheriff's Office forward.