Staff reports the new Director is making changes and bringing as much professionalism to the Dept. as he can. They have had a big turnover in staff recently and attribute this to employees seeking better paying jobs. The Dept. is progressing rapidly in the area of electronic monitoring for adults and exploring the idea with juveniles. They have maxed out the units with the adult offenders and are focusing on pre-trial release and serious misdemeanor offenses. They are now using the new BI Home Guard 2000.
Staff says the new units have more memory, greater range and a quicker response for a cut strap.
The County is also into negotiations and are trying to get an upgrade. Some staff members are still not pleased with the Director's stance on no firearms training, even for the new hires. No report, however, VP does have a call into a member and is expecting a call back. The Dept. has recently installed new computers for all supportive staff to be Y2k compatible. This has been a welcome addition to our Dept.