This is the first article to hit the internet on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 and appeared in print in the Alexandria Recorder on Page 1, Thursday, May 31, 2012
Police study details morale issues
Written by Chris Mayhew • 11:57 AM, May. 29, 2012
ALEXANDRIA — While disagreeing with some of the findings, Judge-executive Steve Pendery still heeded the advice of a consultant’s report about the Campbell County Police Department that suggested ending merger talks with the Alexandria Police Department.
Morale and leadership issues at the county police department were going to obscure any further pursuit of a merger with the Alexandria Police Department, according to the conclusion of an independent consultant’s 31-page report.
Alexandria publicly released the report Friday, May 24.
Alexandria and Campbell County hired David Hobson and Lee Ann Morrison out of Richmond, Ky., in October to study the two police departments. The consultants interviewed police officers, elected officials and select community members and reviewed both departments’ records as part of their work.
Pendery ended the merger talks with Alexandria in a May 17 letter to Alexandria Mayor Bill Rachford after hearing the results of the consultants’ report in April.
The consultants recommended that the county engage in a management study because of issues including “profound moral issues within its ranks” and that officers are “terrified of running afoul of leadership at the department.”
The report also recommends that elected officials should be aware of issues within the police department and “take the opportunity to address them substantively.”
The consultants listed the county’s performance standards as a cause for frequent dissatisfaction on the part of officers and citizens. The consultants say in the report that the county’s performance standards are “quotas” and “an antiquated practice of a bygone era of policing.”
Labeling them as standards, or something other than quotas is a poor policy choice and assumes subordinates and the public are not capable of understanding what is in practice, according to the consultants’ report.
Pendery said he does not agree with the consultants on the issue of performance standards, and does not agree the policy is the cause for a moral issue.
“We are going to address the situation, and I’m not going to get into details,” he said. “We are already addressing the situation by reaching out to outside experts and so far they agree with us that these are not quotas.”
Performance standards primarily require officers to do security checks of businesses, and vacation checks, he said. Officers are also supposed to write one ticket every other shift, and officers work four shifts in a seven day week, he said.
“When the public hears the word quota they think that someone is there is writing tickets left and right,” he said.
That’s not what is happening, and money from writing all tickets goes to the state and not the county, Pendery said.
Campbell County Police Department Chief Keith Hill did not immediately respond to a voice message requesting comment about the the consolidation study.
Concerning Alexandria’s police department, the report said, “(The) Alexandria Police Department enjoys high morale, places a priority on community policing, and has strong leadership in place.”
The consultants go on to point out Alexandria is stretched thin in resources and personnel, and a merger would benefit the department by providing more resources and an opportunity for more specialization. The consultants conclude that Alexandria “has little other reason to merge.”
The consultants’ report lists negative issues pertaining to Alexandria including the appearance the department is a “top heavy” on management, and being “too soft” in its policing approach.
Alexandria Police Chief Mike Ward took issue with the department being “too soft.”
“We have an unwritten policy of ‘We’d rather talk for an hour than fight for a minute,’” Ward said.. “I challenge anyone to review our use of force reports, which would support this statement.”
