Badge of Dishonor Ch. 06

Passion In James County X: Badge of Dishonor

Chapter six

Lise dropped her kids off at the county employees daycare center, then she headed for the sheriff's office to begin her first day on the job. She was nervous, but she was looking forward to the challenge of working, too. She had worked as a secretary in a large law firm for a short time after she graduated from high school, but hadn't worked since her marriage. Now she was going to be the personal secretary for the new sheriff, Alex Martin, who seemed like a very nice man. Even though she was looking forward to her job, the responsibilities of working full-time were still a bit daunting.

She parked her car in the lot behind the big brick building that housed the sheriff's department offices, locked it, then walked inside. The first person she saw was Alex, who was talking with a heavy-set woman sitting at the radio console. He smiled when he saw Lise. "Well, don't you look nice this morning, Lise?" he said. "Ready to get to work?"

Lise felt herself blushing. "Yes," she said, "I am. I...I hope I can do the job."

"I'm sure you can," Alex said. "Otherwise I wouldn't have hired you. Come on, I've got some memos I want you to type, you can get started with them." He turned to the dispatcher. "Sophie," he said, "Call all the supervisors and tell them, I'd like to meet with them in my office as soon as I show Lise what she needs to do."

"Will do, Sheriff," the dispatcher said.

"The memos outline changes I'm making in the operation of the department," Alex explained to Lise when they reached the office she would be using. "I'm going to brief the supervisors this morning, but I want it all down on paper, too, so we can post it in the roll call room and detectives' area." He explained the format he wanted her to use, then left to meet with his men.

Lise booted her computer, took the yellow legal pad covered with neat handwriting, and began working on the memos.

Alex walked into his office. Tim Jackman, who was taking over command of the detective division was there, along with Bonnie Miller, the patrol supervisor, and Willis Graves, who was in charge of the jail and department's civil division, the deputies who staffed the county jail, served legal papers, and provided bailiffs for the court.

Alex looked around, "Where's Burke?" he asked. He was referring to Frank Burke, who he'd recruited from another sheriff's department to run the administrative support division, which included the crime lab, the vehicle maintenance facilities, and the overall administrative operations of the department.

"Right here, Alex," Frank Burke said, walking in. He was a big, bulky man, with long years of police experience. He was particularly good at the scientific aspects of crime-fighting, which was why Alex hired him away from his previous department.

Alex stood up. "As you all probably know, I'm instituting some changes in the way the department operates," he began. "I've been reviewing over the department's existing operational procedures with Sheriff Donaldson for the last few months and I believe the changes I'm making will reduce the amount of administrative time all of the officers working the streets have to spend, and will allow them more time out on the street to do police work. It should also clarify the chain of authority, too."

He paused as a murmur of assent went through the room. "The biggest change is in the chain of command," Alex said. "We're a fairly small department, but I saw a lot of places where communications were breaking down. That messes things up for all of us. Starting today, we're splitting operations into four commands: patrol, civil and custodial, investigations, and administrative support services."

He looked out at his three supervisors and saw them nodding. "Bonnie, will continue to be in charge of patrol. Tim will head up investigations. Willis you still have the courts and civil service until I hire someone to handle the jail. Frank, you've got support services. I'll be available to help out any time you need me, and will handle any internal affairs-type investigations myself. I want all of you to feel free to consult with me at any time."

"How do we decide who handles what?" Bonnie Miller, a solidly built woman with short brown hair and a pleasant face, asked. "I mean, patrol's been handling a lot of minor investigations, car thefts, simple burglaries, stuff like that."

"Keep doing it," Alex said. "That's the only way officers are going to get investigative experience. Your people can handle misdemeanor investigations. Felony cases, too, if you can clear them within twenty-four hours. Anything else, you check with Tim."

He looked at Tim. "I want your crew to handle all serious felonies, drug investigations, homicides and serious assaults, missing persons," he said, "and whatever else comes along. Any questions, check with me."

"Got it, boss," Tim said.

"What about me?" Frank Burke asked.

"You've got the lab, fingerprints, photos and crime scene analysis," Alex said. "You also supervise computer operations. Your division is there to support the other divisions." He turned to Tim and Bonnie. "Of course, the only way Frank's people will be able to do a good job for you is if your people provide him with good information to work with. Got that?"

Bonnie and Tim nodded.

"OK," Alex said. "The key to all this working is cooperation. Any problems, I want to know how you're solving them. If you've got trouble, come to me. My door is always open, and I'll have my pager with me no matter where I am. I don't intend to be office-bound, either. I plan to spend as much time in the field, both with patrol and detectives, as I can. Any questions?"

"Can I bring in a couple of people from my old department?" Frank asked. "I had a couple of lab guys working for me who retired, but I think I can get them back."

"You want them, you hire them," Alex said.

"What's the deal on the new cruisers?" Bonnie asked. "When are they supposed to be delivered?"

"I talked with the dealer yesterday," Alex said. "They should be in early next week. If we can get the markings on and all the equipment installed, they should be on the road by the end of the week."

"Good," Bonnie said. "We sure as hell need them."

"You have any thoughts on who you're assigning to the Camaros?" Alex asked. As an experiment, instead of traditional four-door sedans, Alex ordered a pair of high-performance Camaros to be used for road patrol on the freeways that ran through the county.

"I think I'm going to give them to Donny Hicks and Marsha Dumont," Bonnie said. "Both of them have been through that performance driving school down in Florida. They're the best drivers I've got. Sensible, too."

"OK," Alex said. He looked at Tim. "Your division will be getting new units this year, too, Tim," he said. "I've never thought it was fair to put detectives in re-painted crapped out cruisers."

"What are we getting?" Tim asked.

"The same Caprices we're buying for the patrol division, complete police package, the works."

"Good," Tim said.

"But..." Alex continued, "I want each of you to have your own personal unit. Unfortunately, I couldn't find enough money in the budget for four additional units. So..." He grinned. "I'm having the best of the old cruisers re-painted. They'll be assigned to the three of you and I'm using the fourth one. I want you to take them home with you."

The three supervisors didn't look thrilled, but they forced smiles onto their faces and nodded.

"At least he's not taking one of the new units for himself," Bonnie thought. "Maybe he's going to work out OK after all."

"Go get 'em," Alex said. "Let's do the job the citizens of James County pay us to do."

When the supervisors had departed, Alex walked out to the office where Lise was bent over the computer, working diligently. "How's it going, Lise?" he asked.

"I've almost got those flow charts done," Lise replied.

"My God, Lise," Alex said, smiling, "I'm going to have to hire somebody to make up things for you to do if you keep this up."

Lise smiled and felt her face get hot. "Thank you, Alex," she said.