Kenton County Sheriff’s Office
A 20-Year Strategic Vision
Building a Modern, Proactive and Prepared Sheriff’s Office
Introduction
The Kenton County Sheriff’s Office should not simply be focused on what happens today. We must also be asking where the Office needs to be 10, 15 and 20 years from now.
Kenton County continues to grow and change. The challenges facing law enforcement today are different from those our community faced a generation ago, and the challenges of tomorrow will be different again.
Our goal is to build a Sheriff’s Office that can adapt to those changes while maintaining the professionalism, integrity and community service that citizens expect.
This vision is built around four fundamental principles:
Protect our communities.
Develop our people.
Use resources responsibly.
Prepare for the future.
1. Safer Schools
The safety of our children must remain one of our highest priorities.
The Sheriff’s Office should work closely with Kenton County schools, administrators, teachers and local law enforcement agencies to identify vulnerabilities and develop practical ways to address them.
Target Hardening
We will pursue school target-hardening assessments designed to identify weaknesses in security and recommend improvements.
The goal isn’t simply to respond after an incident occurs. It is to identify vulnerabilities before they become problems.
Specialized K9 Capability
We intend to develop specialized K9 capabilities, including a K9 specifically trained to detect gunpowder.
This capability could provide an additional resource for school safety, investigations and other situations where detecting the presence of gunpowder may be valuable.
2. Certified First Responders
Every Sheriff’s deputy should have the ability to provide meaningful assistance during a medical emergency.
We will work toward providing Certified First Responder training for every deputy.
Deputies are often among the first people to arrive at an emergency. Increasing their medical capabilities can help reduce the gap between the time an emergency occurs and the arrival of advanced medical personnel.
This isn’t about replacing EMS.
It is about making sure our deputies are prepared to help save a life when seconds matter.
3. A Real-Time Crime Center
Modern law enforcement requires modern information.
We will pursue the creation of a Real-Time Crime Center (RTCC) designed to give the Sheriff’s Office better access to information, technology and intelligence.
The goal is to move the Sheriff’s Office from primarily reactive policing toward proactive policing.
An RTCC could help personnel:
- Analyze crime trends
- Identify emerging problems
- Coordinate information during major incidents
- Assist deputies with real-time information
- Identify patterns connecting crimes
- Better utilize available technology
- Coordinate with other law enforcement agencies
Where appropriate, we will explore opportunities to make this resource available to neighboring communities that choose to participate.
The Sheriff’s Office should not operate in an information silo.
4. Developing the Next Generation of Leaders
A successful Sheriff’s Office cannot depend on one person.
It must develop people capable of leading the organization long into the future.
We will emphasize recruitment, training, mentoring and leadership development.
Our goal is to develop leadership three layers deep.
That means identifying promising personnel and preparing them for increased responsibility before leadership vacancies occur.
The objective is simple:
Build an organization that can continue succeeding regardless of who occupies the Sheriff’s office.
This is particularly important when considering a 10-, 15- and 20-year vision.
5. Recruitment and Retention
The quality of a Sheriff’s Office depends on the quality of the people serving in it.
We will work to attract qualified applicants while creating an environment that encourages good deputies to remain with the organization.
That means emphasizing:
- Professional development
- Continuing education
- Leadership opportunities
- Specialized training
- Recognition of good performance
- Fair and consistent personnel practices
Our goal is not simply to fill positions.
Our goal is to build a professional organization people want to join and remain part of.
6. Merit and Personnel Structure
Deputies deserve to know that personnel decisions are made fairly and consistently.
We will pursue the establishment of a Merit Board system designed to provide a structured process for personnel decisions and greater job security for deputies.
A professional organization requires clear expectations and consistent procedures.
The Sheriff’s Office should be a place where deputies know what is expected of them and understand the process by which personnel decisions are made.
7. Fiscal Responsibility
Every dollar spent by the Sheriff’s Office ultimately comes from taxpayers.
We will be good stewards of those resources.
That means looking for efficiencies, evaluating purchases carefully and asking an important question before spending taxpayer money:
Can we accomplish this more effectively without spending more?
We will also aggressively pursue state, federal and private grants whenever appropriate.
Grant funding can provide opportunities to obtain equipment, technology, training and other resources without placing the entire financial burden on Kenton County taxpayers.
8. Supporting Kenton County Businesses
When practical and financially responsible, we will make every effort to purchase goods and services from Kenton County businesses and vendors.
Keeping taxpayer dollars within our local economy can benefit both the Sheriff’s Office and the community it serves.
Local purchasing will always be balanced against price, quality, availability and applicable purchasing requirements.
The objective is responsible spending that also supports our local business community whenever possible.
9. Expanding K9 Capabilities Through Partnerships
The Sheriff’s Office should actively seek partnerships that expand its capabilities without unnecessarily increasing costs to taxpayers.
We are already seeing examples of what these partnerships can accomplish.
Missing and Endangered Persons
Huffman Farm has offered a Bavarian Mountain Hound to assist with tracking missing and endangered people.
The donated K9 would provide an additional specialized resource for searches and emergency situations without adding the cost of acquiring the animal to taxpayers.
Electronic-Device Detection
Another experienced K9 handler has expressed interest in joining the team as a Special Deputy with a K9 trained to locate electronic equipment commonly associated with child-exploitation investigations.
Again, this represents an opportunity to add a specialized capability without requiring taxpayers to purchase the K9.
These partnerships demonstrate an important principle:
We should look for creative solutions before reaching into the taxpayer’s pocket.
10. Transparency and Accountability
A modern Sheriff’s Office must maintain the confidence of the people it serves.
We will emphasize transparency, accountability and professional standards.
Citizens should have confidence that their Sheriff’s Office:
- Operates professionally
- Uses taxpayer money responsibly
- Maintains appropriate policies and procedures
- Holds personnel accountable
- Communicates with the community
- Continually evaluates its performance
Accountability should not be viewed as a burden.
It should be viewed as a responsibility.
11. Partnerships With Other Agencies
Public safety doesn’t stop at jurisdictional boundaries.
Kenton County has numerous police departments, fire departments, EMS organizations, schools and other public-safety agencies.
The Sheriff’s Office should look for opportunities to improve cooperation and information sharing with those organizations.
The proposed Real-Time Crime Center is one example of how technology could create opportunities for greater cooperation.
We will also pursue partnerships that improve training, emergency response, investigations and community safety.
12. The 10-Year Vision
Over the first decade, the objective is to establish the foundation.
Within 10 years, the Sheriff’s Office should have:
- A fully developed proactive crime-information capability
- Expanded specialized K9 resources
- Certified First Responder capabilities throughout the Office
- A strong school-safety partnership
- A structured leadership-development program
- Improved recruitment and retention
- A functioning Merit Board system
- A strong grant-writing and grant-management operation
- Expanded cooperation with neighboring agencies
- Modern technology supporting deputies in the field
The first 10 years are about building the infrastructure and culture necessary for long-term success.
13. The 15-Year Vision
At 15 years, the Sheriff’s Office should be evaluating what has worked and what needs to change.
Technology will continue to evolve. Crime will evolve. The needs of Kenton County will evolve.
The Sheriff’s Office must evolve with them.
The 15-year objective is to have an organization that routinely evaluates:
- Technology
- Training
- Staffing
- Leadership
- Crime trends
- Community needs
- Financial efficiency
- Interagency cooperation
The Sheriff’s Office should not wait for problems to force change.
It should anticipate change.
14. The 20-Year Vision
The ultimate goal is to build an organization that can thrive for decades.
Twenty years from now, the Kenton County Sheriff’s Office should be recognized as a modern, professional, proactive and fiscally responsible law-enforcement organization.
But the most important measure of success won’t be technology or equipment.
It will be people.
The goal is to have developed multiple generations of deputies, supervisors and leaders who understand that their responsibility extends beyond their current position.
They should understand that they are temporary stewards of an organization that belongs to the citizens of Kenton County.
Measuring Success
A strategic plan is only useful if its progress can be measured.
The Sheriff’s Office should regularly evaluate its performance using measurable indicators such as:
- Response times
- Training completion
- Recruitment and retention
- Grant dollars obtained
- Cost savings
- K9 deployments and outcomes
- School-safety initiatives completed
- Crime trends
- Community partnerships
- Technology implementation
- Leadership-development progress
Regular evaluation allows the Sheriff’s Office to identify what is working, what isn’t and where resources should be directed.
The Future Starts Now
A 20-year vision doesn’t mean waiting 20 years to accomplish something.
It means making decisions today that will still benefit Kenton County years from now.
The Sheriff’s Office should be ready to act on Day One, while simultaneously building an organization capable of serving the community long into the future.
Our objective is straightforward:
A Sheriff’s Office that is safer.
A Sheriff’s Office that is smarter.
A Sheriff’s Office that is more proactive.
A Sheriff’s Office that develops its people.
A Sheriff’s Office that respects the taxpayer.
And a Sheriff’s Office prepared for the next 20 years.
A Leader For Today. A Vision For Tomorrow.
