The Guilford County Sheriff’s Department has called a press conference for Thursday, March 14 – but the things the reporters want to ask about may not exactly be the things Sheriff Danny Rogers wants to talk about.
The conference is meant to mark Rogers’ first 100 days as Guilford County’s sheriff, but it comes at a time when there’s a lot of controversy over whether former Guilford County Sherriff BJ Barnes and his team attempted to, as Rogers has claimed, sabotage Rogers’ transition into office.
The Sheriff’s Department is expected to maintain focus at the event on Rogers’ first 100 days in office and the department’s accomplishment’s during that time.
In a press release announcing the conference, Rogers wrote: “As your Sheriff, I promised I would work diligently to bring about POSITIVE CHANGE for all citizens of Guilford County. For the past 100 days, the dedicated men and women of the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office and I have begun our mission to do just that.”
Rogers stated that he wants to use the press conference to highlight departmental improvements, new programs and positive changes that he and his staff have made since taking office in early December.
The press conference is also meant to present a “road map” that the department has developed to better serve the citizens. “These are things we want to accomplish,” it reads. “RESTORE agency accountability and accreditation; CREATE safer outcomes with community policing; REBUILD law enforcement and citizen relationships; SAVE tax dollars through recidivism reduction; REDUCE officer attrition rates; DEVELOP equitable employment practices.”
According to the statement, Rogers and others in the department have met with community partners, other law enforcement agencies, policy makers, civic groups, educators and others – and, through that process, Rogers stated, he’s collected a great deal of information about what Guilford County’s citizens want.
According to Rogers, one key concern is the rampant opioid epidemic and related drug issues: “Many concerns stem around illegal drug use. This issue touches all aspects of the community and feeds violence In our communities and is a monumental public health issue.”
Rogers also pledges to continue to step up efforts to arrest dealers and provide information regarding resources to those who are at risk of overdose.
He added that, during his first 100 days as sheriff, he Increased the number of community outreach events in schools, businesses and other places – and he added that he’s “extremely proud of the work of our all of our officers both sworn and non-sworn.”
Rogers also calls attention to the enhancements in the county’s school resource officer (SRO) programs, the move toward accreditation and his efforts to address vacancies.
“I’m pleased to report that we’ve hit the marks and have made a lot of progress on our 100-day plan,” he summarized. “I am very proud of the men and women of this department. Of course, there is much work to be done. With the commitment of the fine members of the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office, assistance from the community, cooperation of county, state and local agencies and, most importantly, SUPPORT from Guilford County Citizens– ANYTHING is possible.”
Develop equitable employment practices? Reduce officer attrition rates?
While it is reasonable to get rid of political hacks and incompetent people, I can’t wait to see how firing 27 before taking office and pushing several more out since has reduced attrition. Of course, promoting officers who either had not tested for promotion or had failed the vetted outside testing repeatedly will make the remaining officers want to stay.
As a good agency (by all accounts) continues to unravel, the taxpayers are the ultimate losers because they are stuck with this cast of clowns for four years.