Issues In Law Enforcement

Our law enforcement community has been confronted with an array of challenges. The critical challenges facing our agency over the next three to five years are community policing, the use and implementation of Body Worn Camera and recruitment and retention of new deputies. These challenges which face all of law enforcement is the need to uphold the highest standards of professionalism in an increasingly violent society, while ensuring that the applicant pool is sufficient to meet the needs of our community. This issue has the potential to overshadow nearly all other considerations.

With nationwide attention on the issue of community policing, most agencies have already begun implementing new tactics and strategies to work more harmoniously with

The chasm between law enforcement and the public on this specific issue does not show signs of narrowing anytime soon. Complicating matters are the numerous and different bills that are being considered in our state legislature, as well as mixed signals from the courts, with some trending toward increased transparency while others seem to be moving toward limiting disclosure and public access to law enforcement records. Highly publicized police citizen encounters have gotten the attention of our nation. Increasingly, citizens are interested in how police departments operate and the decisions made by law enforcement practitioners. Now more than ever, questions about police accountability, police training regarding use of force, and organizational culture regarding implicit bias or racial profiling are common. As a result of the intense scrutiny, improving community-police relations is vital. Even agencies such as my own that have traditionally valued and focused their efforts on community engagement must continually strive to strengthen those relationships and to build new ones. Public safety is the entire community’s responsibility, and we will not be as responsive or as successful without strong collaborative

Our sheriff’s office is in a constant hiring cycle due to many officers retiring, resigning each year and new positions, there are almost always vacancies, which means there are ample opportunities for you to get hired. However, there is a new generation moving into law enforcement. As baby boomers retire, many leadership positions are opening up. Yet, there is no one to fill these leadership positions, either because the current force does not have the skills or training necessary or because the positions are unwanted by millennials who would prefer to avoid the responsibility of captains and other higher ups