Sheriff-elect Morgan: No More Good Ole Boy System, More Deputies On The Streets

December 14, 2008

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The days of the “good ole boy” system  in the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department is coming to an end January 6 — that’s the word from Sheriff-elect David Morgan. And that’s just the beginning.

“The good ole boy system, that’s coming to an end,” Morgan said. “When times are good, you can kind of pull that off, but when times are bad, you can’t.”

He expects that annual budget for the sheriff’s department to be cut from its current $86.3 million to around $76 million. But despite the cuts, he plans to increase the number of deputies on the streets of Escambia County. Out of 1,058 employees in the sheriff’s department, Morgan said just 240 are deputies on patrol. He said 55 percent of the department’s employees work in administration.

“You have secretaries that gets cars to drive and gas cards,” he said.

Morgan plans to increase the number of deputies on patrol from the current 240 to nearly 300, the number of detention employees at the jail from 268 to about 300 and nearly double the number of narcotics officers.

“We may not have three helicopters and a beach patrol on scooters,” the sheriff-elect said. “Our organization is upside-down.”

“We are going to do more basic police work at the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office,” he added. “We are going to return to serving the public, not being served.”

The new Republican sheriff said he spoke to new Republican School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas about was the sheriff’s department can better serve the school district. The sheriff’s department provides school resouce officers and other security functions for the county’s public school. One such function is security at sporting events; paying for that security can deeply impact profits that might be made on a ballgame.

Morgan plans to bring back the ESCO’s reserve officer program and use those officers to provide school event security at no cost to the district. Those fully certified reserve officers will also assist in other ways to save the department money.

Morgan’s remarks were made Saturday night at the annual Christmas party at the Barrineau Park Historical Society. He told the group that they will see much more of him in the coming months, as he plans to return to Barrineau Park and other North Escambia communities to find out what the communities expect of his department.

Sheriff-elect Morgan will take office as the new sheriff of Escambia County on January 6.

Pictured above: Sheriff-elect David Morgan Saturday night in Barrineau Park. NorthEscambia.com photo.

Comments

8 Responses to “Sheriff-elect Morgan: No More Good Ole Boy System, More Deputies On The Streets”

  1. jeeperman on December 17th, 2008 6:08 pm

    I bet the mainframe computer backup tapes, etc. have mysteriously not been backing up info on a routine bacis either. A few crashes here, a few crashes there.

  2. jeeperman on December 17th, 2008 6:06 pm

    So has McNesby allowed Morgan into the Sheriffs department further than the lobby yet? I bet the Shred-It trucks have been camped out back and running 24/7 since November.

  3. Willie on December 15th, 2008 10:04 am

    Sheriff Morgan, you are on the right track,keep it up, we need someone like you in these times ot austerity. A new broom sweeps clean, also thanks for having the gumption to veto that training center turkey !

  4. Taxpayer on December 15th, 2008 9:34 am

    Jerry Bliss…ALL are politicans!!!! lets see what things look like four years from now? then reply. Talk is cheap! easy to talk about what others have done..it happens every four years. I do agree that more Duputies need to be on the Streets..because that’s were the crime is! A ton is in and around Century! People can’t even drive though there without having bricks thrown at them…But the Law can only do so much, the citizens have to get involved and clean up there on back yards

  5. Jack Moran on December 15th, 2008 7:17 am

    Yes! You have an honest, educated, God fearing, service to the people Sheriff!

    And we need more elected officials like him. May God Bless and keep him.

  6. Chuck on December 14th, 2008 7:20 pm

    Of all the local politicians that we voted into office this year I think Mr. Morgan will be the one that makes us most proud. His efforts thus far have already proven that he was not just feeding us double speak just to get elected. More power to you david, and thank God you had the dedication to stick out two election cycles to serve your community.

  7. BMG on December 14th, 2008 11:03 am

    Pray you don’t get chewed up and spit out by those “good ole boys.” Pray for strength to do the right thing and not become a part of the old system. Best of luck and all the encouragement to make our communitiies better. Look for the good in some of the things that are history, not all things in the past are bad, be open to listen to the citizens and pray for guidance to lead.

  8. Jerry W. Bliss on December 14th, 2008 9:06 am

    WOW!!!!!!!!! It looks like we will have a Sheriff not a politican.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News