Report to the citizens of Wake County

The citizens of Wake County are not an interruption of our work, but the purpose of it.

When I took office in December 2002, I outlined five goals for my administration:

1. reduce response time by putting more deputies on the road;
2. improve jail operations
3. create a specialized team that responds to school emergencies
4. expand the canine team
5. implement a Citizens Well-check Program

Reduced response time
I am pleased to announce that we have reduced response time by reallocating resources so we have more deputies on the road. We have changed the shifts that patrol deputies work to better cover the times when the most calls come in. This change has meant more efficient use of resources and better response time to citizens.

Improved jail operations
As promised, we have also improved jail operations by expediting the booking process. Police officers and deputies are back on the road protecting you rather than spending hours to book a prisoner.

Another concern was that the Hammond Road Annex regularly had 200 vacant beds while the main jail was overcrowded. With reorganization and the development of a classification system, the Hammond Road Annex no longer has vacant beds.

Special Programs
In addition to reducing response time and improving jail operations, Sheriff Harrison, as promised, has created a Special Response Team, expanded the canine program, and implemented a Citizens Well-Check Program. These programs are included in the seven initiatives listed below.

Seven initiatives to better serve and protect the citizens of Wake County

From serving our children with the Law Enforcement Adventure Camp to looking after some of our most fragile citizens with the award winning Citizens Well-check Program, these initiatives are based on Sheriff Harrison’s philosophy that Wake County citizens are the purpose of our work at the Wake County Sheriff’s Office, not an interruption of our day.

• Intel Unit (Implemented in April 2003)—This unit specializes in white collar crime investigations and monitoring gang activity both in the community and in the jail. In addition to these responsibilities, the Intel Unit also coordinates with other agencies about homeland security issues.

• Law Enforcement Adventure Camp (Implemented in July 2003)—Our one week camp where middle school students and their School Resource Officers work side by side as the students explore their interests in law enforcement and the criminal justice system. This camp is the only known law enforcement youth camp designed and managed by School Resource Officers.

• Well-check Program (July 2003)—daily calls to check on the welfare of the elderly and shut-ins in Wake County. By identifying the most vulnerable in our community, Sheriff’s deputies will know whom to check on first when disasters such as ice storms or hurricanes occur. In 2005, this program won one of 14 statewide awards given by the North Carolina County Commissioners Association.

• Expansion of K-9 Team (Implemented in August 2003)—expanded K-9 unit to include four patrol dogs, four drug dogs, and two bloodhounds. The drug dogs, in cooperation with the Wake County Schools, are available to search our schools for drugs as well as work with the Impact Team on Highway Drug Interdiction and High Drug/Crime areas. Our patrol dogs are trained for handler protection, article searches, and tracking and trailing. The bloodhounds look for lost children, lost people, and suspects. These dogs are an invaluable tool for the Wake County Sheriff’s Office and the citizens of Wake County.

• Special Response Team (Implemented in August 2003)—has been deployed less than two years and has already won first place at the 2005 Special Response Team Conference.  Our Special Response Team is available on a moment’s notice to respond to school emergencies and other critical incidents. Some of the critical incidents that the SR Team can respond to include:
  • hostage situations;
  • sniper/active shooter situations
  • civil disturbances;
  • natural disasters;
  • suspect apprehension;
  • rescue situations;
  • missing person situations.

• Impact Team works Highway Drug Interdiction and High Drug/Crime areas. (Implemented in September 2003). The Impact Team’s purpose is to stop the flow of illicit drugs into and through Wake County and to seize the proceeds from drug trafficking. The Impact Team works high drug/crime areas to eradicate the criminal element from these communities. They work license checks, DWI checkpoints, Click or Ticket Checkpoints, Wolf-pack, and maintain a high visibility in these communities.

• STOP Team or Sheriff’s Traffic Observation Patrol (Deployed June 2005)— Funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration through the North Carolina Governor’s Highway Safety Program, the STOP Team is proactive, highly visible, and actively enforces traffic laws. With their high visibility in problem areas, the STOP Team helps deter crime, increases DWI arrests, and reduces traffic safety problems, auto accidents, injuries, and fatalities.

Above and beyond the call of duty

Sex Offender Registry—Last year Sheriff Harrison recognized the need for verifying the addresses of sex offenders more than once a year as the law requires. Sheriff Harrison has Wake County deputies now physically go to the homes of sex offenders to ensure that they are living at the address listed in the registry. If deputies discover that they no longer live at that address, they will charge the sex offenders with failure to register. By going above and beyond what the law requires, the Wake County Sheriff’s Office wants to use every means possible to better protect and serve the citizens of Wake County.

Illegal Aliens—Since taking office in December 2002, Sheriff Harrison has noted an increase in the number of illegal aliens charged with crimes. In order to track this number, detention officers compile the number of illegal aliens incarcerated in the jail. Patrol deputies and investigators also keep up with the number of illegal aliens charged with crimes. These numbers are sent to the Immigration and Custom Enforcement Bureau.

Cost Savings for the Citizens of Wake County

Sheriff Donnie Harrison is a good steward of your tax dollars. He realizes the $___ million in the Wake County Sheriff’s Office Budget is your money.

Listed below are some of the ways Sheriff Harrison and his administration are working to cut costs both at the jail and in the law enforcement division.

Cost savings in Detention Division

1. Have reduced overtime pay from $1.6 million in 2002 to $1.1 at the end of 2005 overtime.
2. Charge inmates a medical co-pay of $10.00. Just as most Wake County citizens have a co-pay with their insurance plans, the law allows the Sheriff to collect a co-pay from inmates (G.S. 153A-225); otherwise, citizens foot the medical bills for inmates. On March 7, 2003, Sheriff Harrison directed that the medical co-pay be collected. On average, the Wake County Sheriff’s Office collects $24,000 per year. If inmates do not have the money to pay this charge, they still receive medical care. The medical co-pay is still charged to their account and collected when the inmates have the funds to pay that charge.
3. Shower Packs for inmates— Instead of having a company assemble these packs, detention staff now pack them saving taxpayers $1.00 per pack. With approximately 30,000 inmates per year, the savings is approximately $30,000 per year.
4. Inmates are no longer issued pillows and pillowcases. No jail in the area issues pillows. Cost per pillow is $4.00; cost for pillowcases is $3.00. With an average of 1000-1100 inmates a day, the Wake County Sheriff’s Office has saved at least $7,000, not including replacement costs.
5. No more liquid soap—inmates now use bar soap, which they buy from the commissary. The jail no longer gives out Tylenol, hydrocortisone cream, pads of aftershave lotion; inmates must buy these. The jail does have indigent packages for those who have no money in their account. No one suffers or goes dirty.
6. White drawstring bag for inmate’s belongings—the original bag cost $179. After comparison shopping, detention staff found a bag that cost $96 each, saving taxpayers $83 per bag.
7. Jail no longer provides inmates with toiletries. Inmates must now buy them from the canteen.
8. Jail canteen has been privatized—got to get savings.

Cost Savings on Enforcement Side

1. Negotiated with Nextel for a better phone plan. New plan saves $24,000 a year.
2. No longer buy newspapers for the inmates. Savings is approximately $5,000 a year.
3. Reduced overtime pay for sworn personnel—In 2002 paid $875,000 in overtime; in 2004 paid only $103,000 for a savings of $772,000. In 2005 WCSO paid $ 66, 605.

Increased revenue

1. Increased revenue through filing for reimbursements from the federal government for illegal aliens who are incarcerated in the Wake County Jail. The Wake County Sheriff’s Office had never before filed for these reimbursements.
2. The Wake County Sheriff’s Office has increased the number of reimbursements due from the state for inmates sentenced to a term in the Wake County Jail. Reimbursement amount is $18.00 a day.
3. Reviewed formula used to determine charge from the Raleigh/Wake Communications Center. The Sheriff’s Office successfully had the formula changed to reduce costs by $125,000 from the 911 center.