Sheriff’s Department Creating 5-Year Strategic Plan

There’s no time like the present to plan for the future, Sheriff Bob Brooks says.

Since taking over his new job as the county’s top law enforcement officer in June, Brooks has been working with department executives and community members outlining a five-year strategic plan aimed at better serving the public.

Among the top priorities that community members want the department to focus on are quicker response times, improved communication between officers and residents, more accessibility to officers and better control of juvenile crime.

“This will be a road map for us to use,” Brooks said of the five-year plan. “The department has never had a plan to work from.”

Authorities began putting together the strategic plan in the summer, assembling six discussion panels that included residents and business people from different areas of the county.

Consulting the community is a key element of the department’s future plan, officials said.

“Sometimes we get so busy, we feel we are going in the right direction,” Sheriff’s Cmdr. Jeff Dean said. “But sometimes it’s not the direction the community wants. The only way we know better is to go to the consumer, the customers, and ask what they want.”

What residents want most is to feel safe in their neighborhoods and communities, officials said.

“They want to be able to walk their dogs at night,” Sgt. Randy Pentis said. “They want to walk with their husbands and wives and feel safe.”

After weeks of consulting, department officials met last week to outline six areas to work on:

* Values: identify the department’s core values and make sure they are adopted by every employee.

* Front-line patrol services: ensure that the department has enough personnel and resources to do the job. For example, are there enough traffic officers or should there be more emphasis on gang activity?

* Review infrastructure of department and evaluate support offices: For example, if the department puts more deputies on the street, does it also need to hire an extra dispatcher or another detective to accommodate the increased workload?

* Information and technology: employ the latest technology to make workloads easier and more efficient. For example, consider installing laptop computers in all patrol cars and using software that would allow the department to more easily communicate with other police agencies.

* Regional services: examining what role the department should play in supporting the operations of other agencies. For example, making the department’s resources, such as its helicopter and crime lab, more accessible to local police departments.

* Human resources: look at how the department can improve recruiting efforts, training, promotion policies and employee reviews.

A commander has been assigned to each task. Their goal is to list ways the department can meet its six objectives and to set deadlines.

“We don’t want this to be just some academic book,” Brooks said. “This is a practical plan with everything assigned to a person or group that’s responsible for fulfilling that goal by a specific date.”

Dave Fowble, owner of Trophies Etc. in Camarillo, who contributed input to the strategic plan, said a department willing to turn to “regular people” for suggestions is one dedicated to serving its community.

“A lot of cities, they don’t care enough to ask their citizens,” Fowble said. “But our department, they are really, truly here to help. It’s not just something they are saying.”