2015 - YEAR IN REVIEW - Press Releases - Saline County Sheriff's Office

Sheriff Rodney Wright was elected as Sheriff in November 2014 and began serving the citizens of Saline County on January 1, 2015. His experience dates back two decades with the Benton Police Department and he is a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) National Academy.

The Saline County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) consists of 124 staff members to include: 21 patrol deputies; 1 K-9 officer; 1 Environmental Code Officer; 2 School Resource Officers; 2 Warrants Officers; 2 Civil Officers; 2 Part-Time Deputies; 1 H.O.P.E. Court Officer; 9 Criminal Investigation Division Detectives; 3 Narcotics Officers; 5 Lieutenants; 1 Chief Deputy and; the Sheriff. There are 11 administrative/investigative support positions, 39 Detention Officers and 27 Reserve Deputies.

It was public knowledge that Sheriff Wright was faced with a number of daunting challenges. From the very first day, Sheriff Wright made the decision to address these problems, not run from them. He accomplished this by immediately instilling cornerstone words such as: professionalism, accountability and transparency.

Some of the accomplishments over the past year are as follows:

Even before being sworn into office, Sheriff Wright began to assemble a team and put forth initiatives that would, hopefully, change the public’s perception of the SCSO. Re-branding and re-imaging the reputation of the SCSO was a major undertaking. Part of Sheriff Wright’s strategy was to bring in professionals from the outside, with wide ranging experience, to compliment the Command Staff that was in place. Combining the experience of these professionals with the institutional knowledge of the current staff has proven to be successful. This move proved to be extremely popular with the citizens of Saline County.

Within 48 hours of being sworn into office, every member of the SCSO was drug tested. There was a 100% pass rate. Random drug testing has continued and there have been no instances of drug use.

Police officers wear uniforms to help them establish a visible presence while on duty, enabling them to be quickly and easily identified by citizens who require their service. One of Sheriff Wright’s first undertakings was to design new formal uniforms for the deputies. This change was met with glowing reviews not only from the law enforcement community, but also from the public.

Several SCSO unmarked units were striped with Sheriff’s Office logos. Although previously there were SCSO units on the streets in Saline County, as unmarked units it was difficult for the public to recognize those vehicles. By placing SCSO insignias on these vehicles, this gave greater visibility of the SCSO’s presence. More visible marked units translates into a greater deterrence of crime.

Knowing that drugs are a common denominator in many types of crimes, two Criminal Investigation Division (CID) positions were reassigned as full-time narcotics positions. Those two detectives work closely with the Benton Police Department (PD), and other law enforcement agencies, in investigating drug related offenses. They are part of the Special Investigation Unit (SIU). In 2015, the SIU statistics were as follows: over $6 million (street value) of drugs seized; 312 subjects were arrested; a total of 660 drug related charges were filed on these 312 suspects; 44 weapons were recovered and; 9 vehicles seized.

For the first time, a SCSO detective has been assigned to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force in Little Rock, investigating national and international drug syndicates with ties to our county.

Although enforcing narcotics laws is needed to attack the drug problem in Saline County, Sheriff Wright viewed this as one prong, in his three pronged approach to addressing this issue. Sheriff Wright believes that the drug problem must be addressed by: (1) enforcing existing laws; (2) educating the public, at all ages, of the dangers associated with drug use in hopes of preventing individuals from engaging in this activity and; (3) rehabilitating those who have issues with substance abuse. The SCSO Detention Center has initiated weekly meetings between inmates and counselors from Alcoholic Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. Additionally, religious pastors now make weekly calls to the facility.

Sheriff Wright designated a lieutenant to oversee his community outreach initiative. The SCSO has become more visible at schools, community and civic events and church gatherings. Presentations have been made from Hot Springs Village to Mabelvale. There has been an increase in the amount of calls made to the SCSO to start Neighborhood Watch programs.

There has been an increase in media coverage on day-to-day operations of the SCSO and leads from the public have aided in the capture of several felons.

Knowing the importance of social media, a webpage was designed and a Facebook page was linked to our website. Since May 2015, scsosheriff.org has been active. A vast amount of information is available to the public, as well as a drug tip hotline number and a crime tip hotline number. To date, several crimes have been solved, criminals arrested and drug investigations aided as a result of these social media outlets.

Sheriff Wright is a big advocate of both cooperative and collaborative efforts with other local, state and Federal law enforcement agencies. Instead of just passing information to other law enforcement agencies, deputies and detectives are expected to develop operational plans with outside agencies to attack the issue. One example of this is the Mutual Aid Agreements with law enforcement agencies that border Saline County which have been formalized in the event of a natural disaster, a man-made disaster or crime syndicates that freely operate across county lines.

After carefully reviewing the table of organization and the budget of the SCSO, it was determined that certain responsibilities were overlapping. By redirecting the responsibilities of some employees, positions were cut, freeing up funds. That money was utilized to create three (3) new deputy positions. Those new deputy positions have assisted the SCSO as a whole.

More than in the past, volunteerism in the law enforcement arena has become a need and not a luxury. It was quickly realized that the SCSO Reserve Deputy Program needed to be expanded and made a bigger priority. Currently 27 Reserve Deputies have been trained, which is a 30% increase from the prior year and is a force multiplier for the SCSO.

Change can sometimes be difficult. In an attempt to keep morale high within the SCSO, Sheriff Wright has expanded opportunities for deputies, detectives and detention officers to receive specialized training. At the same time, he was successful in articulating to the Quorum Court that employees of the SCSO were in desperate need of a pay increase. For the first time in four years, a pay increase was received by employees of the SCSO.

An emphasis has been placed on CID detectives to monitor registered sex offenders living in Saline County. Additionally, emphasis on the importance of solvability rates has been stressed to CID.

A much needed Policy and Procedure Manual for the SCSO and has been re-written and will soon be instituted. Additionally, a Field Training Officer Program for new recruits has been adopted.

Even before taking office, Sheriff Wright recognized the importance of securing and safeguarding the rights of inmates housed in the SCSO Detention Center. He demanded that every employee at the SCSO Detention Center take steps to ensure an environment of respect and dignity toward inmates and to strive for staff sensitivity toward persons under their care.

Inmate care has been made a priority to all SCSO employees. Sheriff Wright believes that one way to achieve this is to instill the mindset that all SCSO Detention Officers are conduct themselves in a professional and respectful manner to all persons who enter the SCSO Detention Center.

Under the leadership of Sheriff Wright, several significant steps in improving services to the community and re-imaging the reputation of the SCSO have been made. Sheriff Wright believes that there are still important leaps which must be made. Research is currently underway to secure the necessary funding to construct a state-or-the-art training facility at the SCSO. This facility would include an evidence room and more interview rooms dedicated to the Domestic Violence Victim’s Advocates.

Additionally, a drug-detection K-9 has been purchased and will be assigned to a School Resource Officer. That K-9 will complete training in late March 2016 and available for service on April 1, 2016.

The SCSO, as a department, has made tremendous strides in polishing their badge and building public trust. The SCSO badge is beginning to shine. Although Sheriff Wright is leading the effort keep that badge polished, he is keenly aware that the successes of the SCSO over the past year, as well as the future goals, could not be achieved without a strong team or without the support and trust of the public.