Sheriff-Elect Releases Plans for First Term

TYLER — Smith County Sheriff-elect Larry Smith will be sworn in New Year’s Day, along with other newly elected officials. Thursday, Smith released a rundown of plans for his first term. “Since the primary election,” says Smith, “I have developed a plan to reorganize the Smith County Sheriff’s Office to improve service, streamline operations, cross-train officers, put more deputies on patrol, and increase departmental efficiency and morale. Implementation of this comprehensive plan will begin on January 1 and will not call for an increase in manpower or budget.”

For starters, Smith says, “The new organizational chart will allow forty patrol deputies to be assigned to the patrol division, along with eight sergeants, a K-9 unit, and a lieutenant. With the implementation of a 12-hour patrol shift, we will have twelve units on the streets of Smith County on each shift. This is three times the number that are often currently on the streets during a shift.”

Smith also says, “We will decrease the command staff by one Lieutenant and increase the Sergeant level positions in order to have more support and supervision in the field in order to best utilize the work force for improved service.” He adds, “We will begin the implementation of a Patrol/Investigator position to better pursue criminal investigations of Class A through Class C misdemeanors.”

Communication with the public is another area of focus. According to Smith, “Two positions (one from the jail and one from operations) will be converted into a professional Public Information Officer.” Other changes include institution of a civil division for process serving; saving fuel costs and patrol time; consolidation of duties; “improved hiring, training, and promotion procedures; a new position for an internal affairs investigator; reorganized co-chief deputy responsibilities; employee support through a chaplain program to be led by Dr. David O. Dykes of Green Acres Baptist Church; and “ongoing pursuit of continuous improvement.”