From Jeffrey R. Gahler:
In a July 16th news article posted on the DaggerPress concerning Sheriff Bane’s summer crime initiative and poorly attended community meeting, I was disappointed to see that the Sheriff was again presenting information that was not factual and was intentionally misleading those in attendance. As he has decided to once again resort to such deceptive information and scare tactics to gain public support, I can only assume these statements are made intentionally and not simply incorrect because he does not understand standardized law enforcement practices.
According to the article, in response to a question from a member of the community concerning emergency response times to events in progress, Sheriff Bane, reverted again to providing erroneous information concerning the Sheriff’s Office’s staffing levels. As reported in the article, “Bane said that he wanted more officers on patrol to cut response times, but his staffing levels at 0.8 per 1,000 in population were low compared to the state and national average of 2.7.”
Data extracted directly from the 2011 Uniform Crime Report reveals Harford County’s population at 247,147 (page 96) and that the Harford County Sheriff’s Office reports 287 sworn law enforcement deputies, Maryland State Police reports 59 troopers assigned to Harford County, Havre de Grace Police Department reports 35 police officers, Bel Air Police Department reports 30 police officers, and the Aberdeen Police Department reports 39 police officers. The data presented above is self-reported by each agency and can be found on page 201 of the Report. Using basic math, the actual ratio of officers to citizens is shown to be 1.8 officers per 1000 Harford County citizens (page 195). All of this information has been updated since my letter on this topic last year.
Even when the population of the three incorporated municipalities is not included in the County’s total population, and only the Deputy Sheriffs and State Troopers who serve Harford County are included in the calculation, the ratio is roughly 1.6 officers per 1000 Harford County citizens. To further the review into officer staffing in the County, utilizing only the number of Deputy Sheriffs in the equation, the ratio is roughly 1.2 officers per 1000 Harford County citizens.
Sheriff Bane believes all answers are to be found in increased staffing and uses incorrect information to support his cry. As I have documented in the past, even the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the leader in police policy and procedures, clearly states that officer to citizen ratio should not be used to determine staffing needs.
Sheriff Bane was also credited in the article for stating “Bane also defended his record overall, saying that Harford County has the second lowest crime rate out of 24 jurisdictions in the state despite a flat budget for the past six years.” Basic examinations of public records supporting Harford County’s Budget for the past six years reveal that the Sheriff’s Budget has been in fact increased from $62.6 million (FY2008) to $68.9 million (FY2014). Jesse Bane’s “flat budget” is actually a nearly $6,300,000 increase or an overall increase of 10%. Other time periods can be examined and discussed should I be examining the incorrect six year period, but if we go back one more fiscal year, we must add in another $12,000,000 that the budget was increased in FY2007. I am not saying that this increase may not have been necessary or even that it would have been less under my watch, but I am saying that it is not “flat”.
Sheriff Bane also told the group called together in response to surging crime in their neighborhoods that Harford County has the second lowest crime rate in the state currently. Was that, if it were to be true, necessary to tell people who are afraid to live in their neighborhood and came together to find out what the Sheriff was going to do about their fears? The Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program used by Sheriff Bane to compile his crime numbers is prepared by information provided by Sheriff Bane and all other police agencies in Maryland. With greater pressure being placed on crime reduction, the UCR program has been stressed by questions of accuracy. Large and small agencies have been found to have manipulated their UCR returns. I have easily demonstrated time and time again how Sheriff Bane manipulates and interprets data to show what he wants the way he wants. Based on this information, I do not share the same glee for the Sheriff’s crime control policies and successes and I know the majority of the good citizens of Harford County do not feel it either.
In response to the letters I have written concerning the Sheriff’s election, I have been asked if it is possible to campaign on what I would do as Sheriff and not be so critical of Sheriff Bane. The above budget example gives a clear picture of why that is not possible. How do I have an impact with a commitment to be fiscally responsible with tax payer dollars against a candidate who is willing to stand in front of a group and say he is not spending at all (flat budget), even though it is not true. In order for voters to understand how I can correct the numerous issues within the Sheriff’s Office, they must know that these issues exist and they are obviously not going to hear it from the current Sheriff.
How can Jesse Bane look anyone in the eye when he speaks? Gahler has caught him how many times not telling the truth? Almost 7 million dollars is flat?!!?!?!?!?! Come on up and flatten my checkbook for me Jesse!
“Flat funding” means zero increase once indexed to inflation.
2008 dollars are not equal to 2014 dollars, over five years, 2% annual inflation (a common and accepted rate) equals a 10.4% difference.
Mr. Gahler I respect your comments and wish you the best as I feel change is very much needed, I hope you respect the office for which you may soon serve and treat us will respect as we will respect your rank sir, I would like to take this time to respect the following deputies for making the ultimate sacrifice: Deputy Sheriff Frank Bateman June 10, 1899- Shot and killed, Deputy First Class Teresa Testerman November 29, 2010- Heart attack after dealing with out of control inmates, Deputy First Class William Beebe # 732 November 28, 2006- Heart attack while responding to a suicidal suspect, Cpl. Charles Licato #553 September 6, 2012- Car accident ending his tour of duty and finally the last but not least Sgt. Ian Loughran # 463 September 13, 2012 – passed away after attending funeral ceremonies for Cpl Licato and suffering a heart attack. The true heroes are the ones that never made it home or the ones that wont live another day to see there family. NEVER FORGET, and BE SAFE MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS.
People for the Ethcical Treatment of Deputies: Well written comment. I can assure you that Mr. Gahler does, and will continue to respect the men and women of the Sheriff’s Office.
Also, add Sheriff Raymond Fulker to your tribute list. Sheriff Fulker suffered a heart attack while working in his office on March 22, 1963. He was taken to Harford Memorial Hospital and died shortly after arriving.
Sorry I didn’t name him and he is not on the Sheriff’s Office wall of lodd. But I google searched it and you are correct. Sheriff Raymond Fulker – March 22, 1963 passed away after a possible heart attack at Harford Memorial Hospital. RIP Sheriff. Maybe he needs to be added to the lodd death memorial if it was a lodd.
HCSO has 287 sworn officers. How many of them are out on the road?
Curious: You hit the nail on the head with that question. I would like a direct answer from one of Jesse’s minions. Also, the question of how many deputies are assigned to specialized units needs to be asked. There are several important units to be sure, but many are redundant and some are downright unnecessary, but Jesse needs to keep creating cushy jobs for his cronies. The number of deputies removed from patrol is appalling. If Jesse uses “his” formula for ratio of patrol deputies to citizens, it is probably much lower than his .08/1000. And that is his own doing.
Probably 30% or less are actual patrol deputies(which is a slim 90 or less) the rest are specialized units and supervisors. No Joke ask for the numbers its the fact. Here is what needs to happen take HCSO and when anyone beats Bane they need to clean house if they do things will change if they don’t well in 5 years we will have this discussion. In the mean time anyone but Bane, its got to get better
Very well written letter reinforcing just how bad things are with the Harford county sheriffs office.
It’s a shame there is no mention of how you propose to fix it. Just pointing fingers will not get you the votes you desire.
I think that Mr. Gahler can fix the issue with Banes lies by winning and then being honest. That is all I see that he is saying is wrong in this letter….deceptive comments from Banes.
Bill, your consistent. A letter addressing Bane’s constant misleading facts and you ignore it and redirect. The liberal agenda has taught you well, the force is strong in you.
Marc “your” missing the point. Facts are facts Jesse is using them creatively to his benefit which has been done since people were first elected. What we need is someone who can and will fix the problems this county faces. Telling us how bad Jesse is isn’t a plan for making the sheriffs office better for the county.
The only liberal here is you, because clearly you are clueless and lack any personal responsibility.
@Bill H.
Mr. Gahler already stopped Sheriff Bane from bringing us speed cameras. I will take that as enough of making the county better.
Because clearly speeding isn’t a problem in Harford county…..
http://www.daggerpress.com/2013/07/25/harford-county-sheriffs-office-traffic-unit-harford-has-2nd-lowest-crime-rate-but-5th-highest-rate-for-crash-fatalities-in-maryland/
@Bill H,
It must not be a problem since Mr, Gahler had it on his platform as one of his main issues that he was ready to address as Sheriff as far back as 2008 and Sheriff Bane failed to act then, failed to act once the election was over, failed to act as people died and families were destroyed, failed to act until the State Police Commander brought it up as a priority 2 1/2 years AFTER Mr. Gahler was ready to make Harford County safer and do it without revenue cameras. The only thing he did do was try to take credit for everyone else’s work. People are tired of Bane and Bane is just tired.
Bill H, thanks for checking my grammar.
Why am I a liberal and have no personal responsibility? What does this mean? I know I am slow but come on splain it to me?
Bill,
Good response. The Gahlers cannot say anything about why they think Gahler would be a good sheriff, but they criticize Bane incessantly. Unfortunately, this is the history of the HCSO at election time.
Bill H,
During the last election, Jeff Gahler put forth his plan for improving the Harford County Sheriff’s Office. If you look back at those transcripts you will clearly see what Jeff’s plan was then. If I had to guess, this letter was written to keep the public informed of Jesse Bane’s repeated inaccuracies.
Ed, I only have to look as far as Mr Gahlers website for all the information I and everyone needs. Just look at the titles under the “news” section and find the ones that don’t have “Bane” in the title, it’s not easy. Mr Gahler has a blog on the Bel Air patch where you will get the same results. Bane may be a terrible sheriff but the only thing Gahler promises is a “safer harford county”. How that will happen is a mystery lost in the endless finger pointing.
I would challenge Mr Gahler to not mention Sheriff Banes name again until the election is over and focus on the wonderful job he would do if elected but sadly that isn’t the information we are going to be getting.
@Bill H.
Let’s see, let Jesse tell these lies about how great everything is and how perfect he is and continue to brainwash Harford County’s senior citizens while Gahler remains quite and then to debate “issues” a year from now. I doubt by what I have seen that Mr. Gahler is as dumb as you wish he were.
I would challenge Jesse Bane to tell the truth from now to the election and not give Mr. Gahler a continuing and unending fuel supply. Get a lib like Jesse to tell the truth for another year. Doubt it.
Bill H, great advice. I am sure the republican candidates will do just that. I am also sure that Bane will run an above board campaign also since he runs the Sheriff’s Office with such integrity.
Lets start a push to get Jesse to change his name to O’Jesse. Keeping with the role models of Obama and O’Malley, O’Jesse likes to follow the Democrats lead of “F” the facts, feed the citizens B.S. and watch them gobble it up. O’Jesse, time for you three to all go into retirement!
Love it. O’Jesse for Retirement in 2014!
Folks, let’s not forget that as of now Mr. Gahler is a politician – nothing else. Do you think he would have anything positive to say about his opponent? If I recall most of the issues he raises were the same ones that existed when the current Sheriff got elected. As we get closer to the actual election we will hopefully have verified facts and figures to use when making our decision. Should be an interesting campaign; no doubt everyone will be `truthful’. Wouldn’t that be a nice change?
Nothing else SOSO? Mr. Gahler’s resume shows him as being a partner in a law enforcement leadership company and adjunct faculty for the Johns Hopkins University. That alone is more leadership in law enforcement for our area than Sheriff Bane has ever offered. Even more important is that if you speak to almost any trooper, they enjoyed working for him because he let them do their job! Ask any Deputy the same question and see if you don’t get the exact opposite response.
Here is a link to Mr. Gahler’s resume http://www.jeffgahler.com/experience and his company http://www.alcleadership.com/ if you want to issue a correction.
With almost forty years of law enforcement experience under his belt you would think Bane would be more prepared. As he prepared his many cases for trial or the grand jury he must have reviewed his case files in advance in order to testify in his cases over the last forty years. He prepared those cases and his testimony in order to give the correct facts under oath to give the defendant a fair trail and the jury the correct facts in order to prove his case. To be unprepared to testify would be unprofessional as a cop and not fair to the defendant, to give misleading facts would be perjury. So is Bane preparing his stats ahead of time and being fair to the voters by giving them the true information? Or is he preparing his facts and not liking the numbers and giving false information to the voters just to win another election? You took an oath to the voters of Harford County just as your took the oath when you testified in all of your cases over the last forty years. Perjury, misleading, or calling it what it is, lying is wrong. So to ask any candidate to just run a campaign on his ideas and ignore the misleading facts is absurd. Bane has been trying to get a handle on gangs and crime since 2006. If he was evaluated on his job performance like his staff how would you rate his performance? Good? Fair? Poor? Or, time to retire?
If there are 287 sworn officers, and crime in Edgewood is up. If you serious about trying to clean up the bad part of Edgewood. Which we all know is mostly behind where Giant used to be. Why wouldn’t Bane take say 30 officers and put them in Edgewood area and just set up shop there for 2-3 weeks. If supervisors are out walking the beat and shoulder to shoulder with Deputies wouldn’t Deputies feel better knowing that the Supervisor HAS to have his back in the streets? I understand 30 is a lot of officers I’m just throwing a number out there. Bane himself should be out there talking to the people and seeing what the Deputies have deal with every day. I’m not in law enforcement so I don’t know if that is even feasible. It’s summer kids are out later and causing more trouble. Some of the “special” units couldn’t spare a guy or two for a couple weeks? I know nothing Gahler so I’m not trying to push him either. I’m asking about it as a concerned citizen for Harford County. Meadow wood, I’m sorry Windsor Valley, used to have a bad reputation but I don’t think its nearly as bad as behind Giant. Of course I could be wrong
Your second sentence said it all. This is a political showing and nothing more by Bane. It is an election year and time for more of the same. Bane only plays a cop in the movies, he would not know the first thing about a stop and talk or what to look for. His department is in shambles, low morale and the paper use for IA 28 forms is at an all time high. Your supervisor can have your back all day long, but if Major IA 28 or Bane get a complaint from a citizen it means nothing. The people at the top have to have your back also. Meadows may have been arrogant and a lot of things, but when the gang problem came to Harford County he did have our backs and the problem was taken care of. If twenty people show up for your big crime kick off I think that pretty much should tell you that people have “no confidence” in you and should send you packing Jesse. The men and women of your department know how to take care of the crime problem, it is just hard to do with you as Sheriff.
Because if you swamp an area the crime just moves to other areas. There is such a larger picture to this than just throwing folks who don’t normally work that area into the neighborhoods, it’s a comprehensive program that requires not only enforcement but ongoing problem solving.
Why would a guy bust his but to make arrests when he knows that he is guilty until proven innocent with the administration? You have guys who are super hard workers but will never move up because they get so many (false) complaints but the agency still takes a dopers word over a patrol dog.
Why would good, hard working honest cops try for promotion when they know that front line supervisors are neutered by the command team who don’t like “peons” making decisions. How does it make a Corporal or Sergeant feel when they make an on the spot, correct decision and a command team member days later reverses that decision from the comfort of their air conditioned office and “business attire?” because they are concerned about the publics perception?
How about the poor road-folks who simply want to grab a meal together at 3am, and the only place open means some of them can’t eat because a major will jump out on them and demand reprimands or openly confront them in front of the public because the commanders don’t like more than two deputies eating together, unless your command staff.
How about the road folks that watch commanders drive past calls for service because they don’t feel obligated to assist with such “menial” tasks as 911 calls or backing up the patrol division. How many commanders actually have their radios on?
Lets look at spending even closer:
Bane had a crony who complained high and low after a certain female was made major and she made more money than him. Recognizing he couldn’t just give his friend a raise, Bane created a new position so his boy would make more money. Responsible? Nope.
Bane also, for the first time I understand, suddenly decided that Lieutenant wasn’t a high enough rank for the person in charge of internal affairs. Coincidently one of his minions was conveniently transferred into this spot and suddenly made a major to the tune of around $110,000 a year. Responsible? Nope.
Jesse makes up so many positions for his “friends” (contributors to his campaign), it isn’t funny. His “created” positions are taking the place of hiring more deputies that he is constantly complaining about not having enough funding for. He could free up at least $1,000,000, no exaggeration, by wiping out some of those positions, but that would never happen, especially not in an election year.
well you figure base salary for a major is around 109,000 a year, so that right there is two Dep’s/DFC’s plus equipment and overtime.
Sometimes I wonder if this is the kind of negative attention Bane wants, since its the kind he gets. I see a reoccurring theme that Bane tends to speak to the crowd he is in front of, for applause and votes. Bane wore out his welcome a long long long time ago. Time for Gahler.
So, why does the Command Staff need A PPV? Deputies…yes, Special Teams…yes.
Administrative “Officers”? No.
Free up some funding there, Bane! Or would that have a negative impact on them being able to grab parking spots at the mall?
How about decreasing your “overtime” appearances at these community events? Funding found!
Citizen’s Academy? Halt attendance for a bit, another source if unnecessary spending.
Fancy “business meals” for your meetings with Command Staff? Stop that, and you can free some spending there!
Your fancy office furniture over the crappy cubicles for everyone else…FUNDING!
I need to run for Comptroller or something…LOL
Lets not forget how many tens if not hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars bane is spending on CALEA certification, a worthless meaningless certification that will cost the citizens of harford county every year to come.
You do get a nifty decal for your cars.