Sheriff Shafer starts duties 4 days ahead of time

link From left, the Quay County Sheriff’s Office staff, deputies, Chief Deputy Dennis

Garcia and Sheriff Russell Shafer are sworn in to office Friday by Quay County

Magistrate Judge Joel Garnett at the Quay County Courthouse.

QCS Staff

Quay County Sheriff Russell Shafer chose to take his oath of office four days before other new Quay County elected officials officially began their duties.

Quay County Magistrate Judge Joel Garnett swore Shafer and Chief Deputy Dennis Garcia in on Dec. 29.

“I wanted to get an early start to work,” Shafer said.

Immediately after they were sworn in, Shafer said he and Garcia conducted a full inventory of sheriff’s office equipment, including weapons, seized property and vehicles, to ensure that all items were accounted for. They were, he said.

Shafer said that now that the inventory is done, his first tasks are restriping sheriff’s department vehicles and acquiring new uniforms for sheriff’s deputies.

He wants the department to increase its presence in the community, and the first step is to increase visual impact with a more pronounced look. In addition, he said, he wants the sheriff’s department to become more active in making traffic stops and in anti-drug law enforcement.

He said he wants the department to review its policies to ensure they line up with the state’s law enforcement statutes and develop work schedules that ensure adequate, efficient coverage for the county.

“We want to make sure that we have deputies on duty to better serve the residents,” Shafer said.

Shafer said he also wants to improve the efficiency of department communications and information sharing. He plans to ensure that the department’s computers are networked and can share all reports and documents through a central data base.

He also wants to make sure that information can be shared efficiently between the sheriff’s department and the Quay County Detention Center and the county’s emergency central dispatch system, as well.

Streamlining information sharing and communications, he said, could ease the process of identifying repeat offenders and avoid duplication of effort in cases that are similar to each other.

Shafer said he knows there is going to be a lot of paper work and leg work involved in getting the department into shape but said he is up to the task.

In addition, he said, he will seek out state and federal funding sources for some department improvements while efficiently applying local tax dollars.