Mosher restructures sheriff's office
Since taking office, Vernon County Sheriff Jason Mosher has made several changes in the way his office does business. One of those changes was to implement a new command structure that split the duties of the sheriff's office personnel into four divisions.
Mosher said he made the change so each division "can completely operate within itself." Each of the four divisions has a person in charge, with a recognizable chain of command and known set of responsibilities from that person on down.
The patrol division is headed up by newly promoted Lt. Jacob Crahan. Crahan supervises a sergeant, six patrol deputies and two reserve patrol deputies. His duties include all scheduling of patrols, reviewing all patrol reports and approving them or sending them back to the deputy for more work.
Once Crahan approves a report, it goes to Chief Deputy Shayne Simmons who decides whether the incident needs to be followed up or be assigned to the investigations division.
Mosher said having one man in charge of the patrol division has been helpful because the lieutenant hears from every deputy and sees every report. That helps Crahan determine where the patrol division needs to concentrate its efforts. Any kind of issues the deputies have goes to Crahan first and then up the chain of command, if needed.
Mosher also has started having department head meetings every week, which he said he finds real important.
"(It's) just a little bit about each department and what they're doing," he said, adding that the process helps the investigations division know what patrol is doing and vice versa.
The investigations division has two full-time investigators and is led by Lt. John Randall.
"They stay very busy," the sheriff said.
The investigation division delves into all kinds of crimes, but some of the most common are assaults, thefts and financial crimes such as embezzlement.
In addition to supervising the division, Randall also has many other duties. He is in charge of all the evidence brought into the jail.
He also transports evidence to and from the crime lab and is in charge of the office's fleet of 16 vehicles.
Randall also has the responsibility of documenting all the equipment purchased by the sheriff's office and what pieces of equipment each deputy is given to perform their duties. A database lets Randall see at a glance what each deputy has checked out.
Deputies use a lot of different gear, and so does the jail division.
Lt. Mike Buehler supervises 12 men and women in the jail division. Personnel include two corporals, who serve as shift supervisors responsible for the day-to-day decisions in the jail when Buehler is not on duty. Mosher said working the jail division is a difficult job, partly because it deals with more regulations and policy considerations than being out on the road Mosher said.
Jail division deputies are responsible for many things. They do all booking and fingerprinting and make an initial determination as to whether a prisoner is "fit for confinement" or not. That requires some medical training which personnel receive from the full-time nurse the jail employs. Deputies also have to be trained in dispensing medications, checking blood sugar and administering insulin when the nurse is not on duty.
The jail division also is responsible for staffing the jail's control center, a touch screen, computer controlled system that is monitored every minute.
From the control center, an employee can open, shut, turn on, turn off everything in the entire building. Everything -- lights, water, heating, cooling even exterior doors to the sally port -- can be manipulated from the control center. The system also contains court generated information on each prisoner, because the people in the control center control who goes in and out of the jail.
Mosher said many of the deputies in the jail are commissioned and every employee cross-trained to perform any task needed.
The final division in Mosher's new command structure is the administrative division.
Tina Salkil is in charge of the office administration. Salkil makes two trips a day to the courthouse for papers to be served and papers that have been served. She handles both criminal and civil documents.
The administrative office is also tasked with registering sex offenders and reporting non compliance when offenders fail to meet the requirements of their registration.
Individuals in the recovery court program report to the jail three days of the week for drug tests and the administrative office is responsible for making sure each person is observed by the appropriate male or female deputy.
The division is responsible for all the paperwork involved in obtaining a concealed carry permit.
Salkil's division also handles all money received by prisoners for use in the commissary and returning any money not used.
All money is returned in a check written on a local bank. The administrative division also does a lot of bookkeeping and handles all press releases.
Mosher said the restructuring of the command has made things run smoother in the field and in the jail. It helped with the 24-hour coverage and each deputy and division is getting more accomplished
"Each division has its job and that's it," he said.
The new system has improved communication and that has improved moral.
"Cooperation is better, because they are working within our own department."
Mosher said it has made a difference for the deputies. They volunteer more, they have more pride and "feel like their a professional department."