ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, January 22, 1996 TAG: 9601230005
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BEDFORD
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
Bedford County's new sheriff, Mike Brown, has an ambitious agenda for the next four years.
Here are some changes already under way in Brown's first month at the Sheriff's Office and some things county residents can look for in the future:
Volunteers.
In an effort to increase manpower and efficiency, Brown is recruiting senior-citizen volunteers for administrative duties so he can put more sworn officers on the county roads.
Volunteers, who will be identified by blazers with sheriff's patches, will assist with such chores as data processing and stuffing envelopes. Some will answer a domestic violence hot line that will start soon. Others will assist with court duties, such as escorting traffic-court defendants, a job that now uses full-time deputies.
Volunteers undergo full criminal background checks.
Some of them, like a lake couple who are retired from the FBI, have previous law enforcement experience. Others just want to have a safer county to live in. So far the pool is 16 strong and growing.
The Sheriff's Office also is looking for volunteers who are fluent in foreign languages and sign language to help interview witnesses and suspects.
There's also the Citizens on Patrol program, in which residents will patrol the county in their own cars using cellular phones or radios to report crimes or suspicious activities. Brown hopes to train a pilot group this summer in the Moneta, Stewartsville, or Chamblissburg areas.
Traffic.
In a department that rarely used radar, and has only two radar units now, Brown has pledged to get more units. He has increased traffic patrols in problem areas such as subdivisions and near schools, including Montvale Elementary and the schools in Forest.
Last Tuesday, Brown went before the county Board of Supervisors to request that state traffic laws be made a part of the county's ordinances, so that fines from traffic violations can be used by the Sheriff's Office instead of going to the state.
Sheriff's Office and communications center.
Brown is lobbying for the county to reconsider its decision not to join the Blue Ridge Regional Jail. He favors construction of a new public safety complex on a county-owned 300-acre parcel near the county nursing home off U.S. 460, one of the things the regional jail would help accomplish.
The Sheriff's Office is too cramped, he said. He's already had the reception window moved closer to the front door to make more room. A secretary's office is in the fire passageway because there's no other place to put her desk.
And the county's 911 hardware is in an open closet, protected from condensation by only a thin layer of rubber stuffed over it.
A recent power surge at the nearby Rubatex Corp. plant knocked 911 service out for 30 minutes. Brown's afraid it could happen again.
Visibility.
Brown is looking at new, high-profile paint jobs for county patrol cars, and he will replace the deputies' generic brown-star shoulder patches with distinctive full-color patches of the county seal.
Leadership.
Brown has made some promotions and has brought in three new officers to fill key positions.
Ricky Gardner has been promoted to sergeant in charge of investigations.
Administrative Lt. John McCane is a former Lynchburg police lieutenant with 18 years of experience. He is a former homicide detective who made news when he was found not guilty in the 1979 self-defense killing of a neighbor.
A diehard Republican with autographed pictures of Oliver North and George Bush on his desk and office wall, McCane campaigned for Brown. The two worked together in recent years as private investigators looking into high-profile murder cases for law firms and court-appointed attorneys.
Uniform operations Lt. Kent Robey, who worked in the Campbell County Sheriff's Office for 10 years, oversees all the road deputies.
Brown's former campaign manager, Rick Wiita, is now his administrative sergeant. Domestic-violence training for deputies and applying for grants for projects such as computers in patrol cars will be his main work.
LENGTH: Medium: 84 linesby CNB