LAKE COUNTY — Lake County Sheriff Rod Mitchell announced the creation of a new quality assurance inspector position Wednesday that will identify problems in the department service and report back to him.
Mitchell tapped retired Chief Deputy Jeff Markham for the task, the Sheriff”s Office stated. Markham agreed to the unpaid position because of his commitment to the county and the department.
Markham retired from the Lake County Sheriff”s Department in June of 2005 after 36 years of service, according to the Sheriff”s Office. Markham was a state narcotics agent prior to joining the sheriff”s department as a sergeant in 1967. He rose through the sheriff”s command ranks of lieutenant and captain and then as a chief deputy. He was Mitchell”s second in command for five years before he retired.
“I am glad to have Jeff back in any capacity but this is one of his areas of expertise,” Mitchell said. “We”ll use his findings as the basis of training and policy development and it will make us better at what we do.”
Mitchell created the quality assurance inspector position after his own random audits revealed service related deficiencies, the department reported.
“Our team consistently performs well on the major crimes against persons and the ?in-progress” kind of offenses,” Mitchell said. “We are inconsistent though at delivering that same high quality service on some of the cold property crimes.”
The sheriff and his staff attribute some of these problems to inadequate communication and others to inconsistent training.
Markham”s audits will help them develop the proper corrective measures to enhance service regardless of the findings.
The Sheriff”s Department recently began sending out service questionnaires and the review of those documents will be among Markham”s many tasks. He will also be initiating evaluations of staff”s performance on a random basis across the entire department so his work will not be limited to the patrol arena alone.
“I will be listening to dispatch recordings, making random contacts with crime victims, interviewing former jail detainees and reading dozens of reports each month and all with the intent of identifying weaknesses and developing the proper response to them,” Markham said. “I am excited to have this opportunity to serve the department and the community in this way.”
Markham will be initiating audits of select cases and reports and he will respond to citizens who have questions or concerns about departmental procedures. This will allow Markham to contact citizens who have complaints about Sheriff”s Department practices or policies and make recommendations to Mitchell on methods of addressing those concerns.
In order to complete a project pertaining to a departmental reorganization, some of the existing sergeants will be promoted to the rank of lieutenant.
Mitchell told Markham that he will also be glad to have him back in the department to assist in the development of these junior command level officers.
People with comments, questions, or suggestions for Markham can reached him at 262-4098 or jbm@co.lake.ca.us.
