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i Square[eritfor establishing a r the sheriff’s officeird lias drug its feet now on the proposal, it ions for state grants was that a merit shed within one year, ard was notified of f 1973.provided the grant ais Law Enforcement SC) with the clear it the merit system ented. board received a a proposed merit1 for the creation ofommission to review itions in the sheriff's personnel recom-,'riif for promotion, t commission, under posal, would be ap-hierilT and approved 'd.erit system provided fsting and screening ,’es.systemstalledtooBy Harry ReynoldsJlt; i Reporter-CohimnistPersons wanting to work for the sheriffs department would have had to meet criteria established for the deaprtment.New employes in the department would have had to serve a probationary period of six months.The board delaved action on the Jul\* i *’1973 merit system proposal.The proposal was a good one. It wasn’t revolutionary and one wonders why the board did not act last summer to implement the merit system.Could there be any connection between the fact that Sheriff Paul Smith is a Republican and the majority of members on the county board are Democrats'’Hopefully, not.Why then hasn’t the county board implemented a merit system for the sheriffs office?It is evident to most people in Coles County that the sheriffs office needs to be upgraded.This is not a reflection on Smith or his present staff.The fact is, however, that the countv needs a staff in the sheriff'soffice that is selected on merit rather than political affiliation.The sheriffs office has the responsibility of providing protection for approximately 13,000 residents of the countv who reside outside of in-Vcorporated areas.T h r e e recent murders have demonstrated that the sheriff’s office staff lacks proper training.Not one shred of tangible evidence was turned up in the investigations of the deaths of Joe Carl Plumley, Linda Shriver or Barbara Beasley.It wasn’t because the sheriff’s office didn't try to solve the murders.The staff and the sheriff put in many long hours working to solve all three cases.The fact that they did not succeed can partly be attributed to the political games that the county board seems to enjoy playing.You cannot hire a man off the street, stick a badge on him and then tell him to go out and solve crimes.The failures in the three murder cases have demonstrated that the sheriff’s office needs people who are trained properly.longThe only way you are going to get those kind of people and keep them is to establish a system that guarantees them job security, adequate pay and opportunities for promotion.Because the sheriff’s office does not have a merit system, the county lost a good investigator this year.He was Kenneth Belleau. Belleau. a fingerprint expert, had an extensive background in conducting criminalinvestigations.He quit the department to take a job as a patrolman with the Charleston Police Department.Belleau quit because he wasn’t paid adequately and because there was no job security with the sheriff's departmentDefeat for Smith in the fall election could have meant that Belleau would be out looking for a job.Who can blame Belleau for quitting?The county board should get moving and approve a merit system for the sheriff's office.We need good law enforcement inColes County.Fareirto Rico turns on the charm
Newspaper Details
Mattoon Daily Journal Gazette
Mattoon, Illinois, US
Mon, Jul 15, 1974
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Rebecca B.
USA 23 Feb 2019
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