Sheriff’s Corner by Sheriff Kirby Brumby

October 3, 2011

Many of you read in last week's paper about my appeal to Commissioner's Court for approval to pay a supplement to my patrol deputies.  This was the third time that I had approached the court for help in finding a solution to the shortage of patrol deputies in the Sheriff's Office.  Court approval is required before I can pay a supplement to my employees.

I approached the previous County Judge during the budget process in 2009 and in 2010 to try to solve a problem which I saw, namely the low pay for Goliad County Law Enforcement personnel compared to Victoria, Dewitt and Refugio Counties.  These are the counties that we compete with for employees--particularly deputies.  Nothing was accomplished in my appeals in 2009 and 2010.  This summer I hoped to find a solution during the budget process for this year; instead, salaries were frozen.  Since that time I have lost two more experienced deputies. 

The Sheriff's Office currently has four experienced Patrol Deputies and two Deputies who are in field training to fill the eight positions that it requires to be able to serve the County 24 hours a day, seven days a week with two deputies always scheduled for duty.  I also have a Patrol Captain who can fill in to patrol in an emergency, but this officer has administrative duties as well.  I have a K-9 Officer who can also fill in, but if assigned to regular patrol duty which includes lots of loose livestock calls, she can't do the drug interdiction that she and the dog are trained to do.  This does not take into account deputies who are sick, on vacation, or out for training.  To cover all the shifts, more over-time will have to be paid.

Beside the cost of training new employees (approximately $8500 for each deputy), and we have trained 11 new Deputies in 2 1/2 years, there are other problems with not having patrol deputies who are very familiar with Goliad County.  Response times will be slower; building trust with confidential informants takes time and so not as much information (intel) will come into the S.O.; new officers do not know the problems areas.

Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn stated in her "Managament Review of Goliad County" in 2003 that the Sheriff's Office should have at least two deputies on duty at all times for the safety of the community and for the safety of officers.  When I took office in 2009, I made the change to always schedule two deputies on duty.  With the loss of two more Deputies since salaries were frozen, this policy is becoming more difficult to follow.  Losing Sheriff's Office employees is not saving money, and it certainly is not making the County safer.  Of course, no officer should ever respond to a domestic dispute alone, and domestic calls have increased every year.  The community wants to feel safe.  I think the community expects to have deputies in all areas of the County and to have them respond to all their calls.

I am willing to take money from non-personal areas of my budget to pay supplements in order to try to stop further loss of employees and to try to appeal to experienced officers to come to Goliad.  To do this, I need the cooperation of the Commissioners.

August 29, 2011

Since most children these days have access to the internet either through computers, phones, games systems, etc., I feel that this is a good time to remind parents about on-line safety.

The following are 10 rules to follow:

#1 Don't use the computer or other on-line accessible device as a babysitter.

#2 No unsupervised internet access for children or teenagers.  Keep the computer in a public area; never in a child's bedroom.  Observe them periodically and without warning so there is no expectation of privacy.

#3 Make use of the internet as a family.

#4 Use an internet provider that allows you to block chat sites and other areas.

#5 Teach family members to never give out identifying information such as phone numbers, address, last name.

#6 What you are told on line may not be true (you may not be talking to a 15 year old girl, but a 40 year old man).

#7 Never respond to messages or bulletin boards that are suggestive.

#8 Don't send a picture to someone you don't know.

#9 Don't arrange to meet someone through the internet.

#10 Never download a picture from an unknown source. 85% of P2P downloads are pornography.

#11 Monitor the time of day and duration your child is on the internet.

#12 Remind your child that once something is sent on the internet it cannot be taken back-a picture, a comment about someone.

August 22, 2011

All officers, jailers and dispatchers in the Sheriff's Office are certified through the state; they are TCLEOSE certified.

To keep their certifications, deputies must have 40 hours of training in a two year cycle.  Certain topics are mandated such as cultural diversity; investigative topies which include child abuse, sex offender characteristics, and family violence; crisis intervention; and state and legislative updates.  Other hours are chosen by the deputy which include everything from crash reporting to Spanish for Law Enforcement.  The Captain has taken hours in Management and Supervision, Emergency Management, Mental Health Officer, Environmental Law and Crime Prevention.  The Investigator attended a state-wide conference on violence against women, Sexual Assault Family Violence Investigator's Course, Cyber-crimes Investigator Training and Background Investigation Training.  All officers must qualify yearly with their firearms.  The Sheriff is also required to qualify with his firearms as well as attend the other required training.  I also attended the County Information Resource Agency Training in Austin, Use of Force Training in Victoria and Emergency Management Training in San Antonio.

Jailer when hired are given a temporary license and then have a year to complete the 3 week certified jailer course. They have in-jail training before they can be scheduled on a shift.  All Jailers are required to take the Cultural Diversity Course and CPR certification yearly.  Other courses include Victims' Compensation Course, Use of Force in Corrections, and NIMS training.  The Jail Administrator has completed the Jail Adminstrator's course that was taught in Huntsville, Texas.

Dispatchers, beside on the job training, are required to complete other training: TCLEOSE requires a Basic Telecommunicator Course and Crisis Communications Course within the first year of employment; a 16 hour NCIC/TCIC Full Access course and the 24 hour TLETS/NLETS Basic Procedures Course within the first six months of employment and then a 16 hour refresher every two years.  TDD/TTY for the Deaf is required every six months. The Head Dispatcher has received training in Management Supervision and New Supervision Training.  She has also attended Law Enforcement Software Training, Hazardous Materials Training, TCIC Terminal Agency Training, TCLEOSE Program Training, County Information Resource Agency Training, and CJIS Security Policy Training.  The Head Dispatcher teaches the Full Access Course and the Peace Officer Course for TCIC/NCIC.

All employees of the Sheriff's Office must have FEMA NIMS training to make Goliad County eligible for FEMA aid for county property in case of a diaster.  They all must have NCIC/TCIC training in order to view criminal histories.

Many of these topics are taken on-line, some courses are taught monthly in training groups in Goliad, others are taught in neighboring counties, and some have to be attended in locations determined by the state.

August 15, 2011

We know school is about to start because retailers are advertising sales tax-free buying weekends.  Monday, August 22nd is the first day of school for children in Goliad ISD.  I want to remind everyone to slow down-not only in school zones but all over town.  Children will be riding their bikes or walking to school.  Buses will be picking up kids all over the county.  Remember, cell phone use in school zones is against the law unless handsfree, and in cars, children must be buckled up.

With the start of school, deputies will be patrolling Tiger Driver, Ward Street and the school zone on Pearl Street.  I will be directing traffic in front of the Intermediate School.  The traffic on High Street in front of the elementary and intermediate schools is very congested with parents dropping off or picking up children, parents walking children across the street, cars turning and passing.  My being there makes those whole process safer for the students.  This also gives children of this age an opportunity to interact with a peace officer, to become more comfortable talking to an officer, so if they need help in the future, they will be more likely to talk to an officer.

August 1, 2011

As we all continue to pray for rain, I want to warn drivers to slow down and use extra caution driving at night.  The Sheriff's Office is getting increasing numbers of livestock calls and increasing numbers of accidents involving wildlife.  Cattle are pushing through the fences because the road right-of-ways are where the grass is these days.  For the same reason, deer and other animals are grazing on the road sides.  As you drive the county at night, be alert that deer and hogs do not yield the right-of-way to you.  This weekend a motorcyclist hit a deer in the Schroeder area.  The driver was fortunate that someone else was able to call and get him help.

Now for a warning for those who live in the city.  Granted you probably won't hit a deer or hog on any of the city streets, but the drought is affecting your neighborhoods.  Raccoons, skunks, snakes and other animals are looking for food and water, and that is more available around your house.  Use extra caution particularly at night around water sources.

Please read the article about required brand re-registrations and the need to update the listing of your livestock information in the Sheriff's Office Cattle Book which helps us contact the livestock owner when we have a loose livestock call.

May 17, 2011

The death of the 22 year old young man on Coleto Creek Reservoir this weekend was tragic, but it can be used as another reminder to us and to our children that accidents like this can be avoided.  The boat was reportedly being driven fast across water late at night.  The young man jumped from the boat into the water-something which I have been told is a stunt that is often being done by young people.  We also know that he was not wearing a life jacket.  Use of alcohol could also be a factor.  With different decisions, this would not have happened.

I want to acknowledge and thank all those who responded to this 911 call.  Friday night two Sheriff's Deputies and 3 Game Wardens were at the lake most of the night.  Seven Game Wardens were there early Saturday morning, and then the DPS Dive Team arrived Saturday afternoon.  This team has individuals from all over the state.  The area where the accident occurred is deep and the Hydrilla is thick so the search was very time consuming.  Captain Rex Mays was in charge of the Game Wardens.  DPS Trooper Ruben San Miguel offered his help on several occasions.  Constable John G. Miller, Victoria County, also offered his help on scene on Sunday.  All of these people contributed to the search to locate the young man's body.

April 25, 2011

Two recent events have brought to my mind the need for driving with greater care than we sometimes do because at any moment our safety can be at risk.  The paper last week reported the death of a high school sophomore in a traffic accident where she failed to yield the right-of-way to another vehicle.  Was she distracted texting or talking on her phone?  Did she just not see the oncoming vehicle that was approaching on US 183?  It doesn't really matter.  What it says to us, though, is that we need to stop at the stop sign, we need to look both ways and then look again just to be sure, and we need to put our cell phones down.  In this case, the young woman also had not fastened her seat belt.  Statistics show that fastened seat belts save lives.

Another accident occurred the same weekend.  A man from the Berclair area was killed on his motorcycle driving from Beeville back into Goliad County.  The accident located on the bridge which is the dividing line was investigated by Bee County, but one thing that I do know is that he was not wearing his helmet.  Again, statistics show that wearing a helmet on a motorcycle saves lives.

Both of these accidents need to serve as wakeup calls to us all-- to be more careful drivers, to drive defensively, to buckle our seatbelts and those of our children, to wear helmets, to stop completely at the stop sign, to yield the right of way, to not text or email while driving.

My prayers go out to these two families.  My hope is that we will all learn something from these accidents.

April 18, 2011

Have you seen more Deputies on the road lately? Two deputies are always scheduled to work but thanks to "Border Star"  we have added deputies working overtime.  The Goliad County Sheriff's Office has received a $63,201 grant from the state to pay the deputies to work overtime.  The grant also pays for the mileage driven while working Border Star.  Our deputies began to work Border Star at the end of March after Commissioner's Court accepted the grant.  We have until the end of August to work the hours and drive the miles to total the value of the grant.  This program is for interdiction in order to find drugs, cash and illegals. 

In last week's paper there was a picture taken in Austin on Goliad County Day.  It was a privilege to represent Goliad at the capitol meeting with our State Representative Jose Aliseda and State Senator Glen Hager.