NEW CHATHAM SHERIFF PLANS REHAB FOR TROUBLED AGENCY

PITTSBORO -- To Richard Webster, the Chatham County Sheriff's
Department has been losing the battle against crime for years. Beaten
and bruised, it has succumbed to drugs, property crime and low deputy
morale. But when the new sheriff takes office today, he plans to roll
up his sleeves and dive into a slow and taxing rehabilitation.

"I want to see the black eye removed from the Chatham County Sheriff's
Department," said Webster, who is to be sworn in at 9:30 a.m. in
Pittsboro's old courthouse. "It won't happen overnight. But with good
people, we will get [integrity] back."

Webster, 42, will walk through the department's front door this
morning with an entirely new command staff from across the Triangle.
He plans to meet with his deputies to discuss his plans for serving
the county, then divide them into groups for job-specific
orientation.

"We're going to have a new beginning," said Webster, who will take
charge of more than 50 sworn officers and a budget of almost $4
million. "We've got to improve on everything we do and how we do it."

In the past, the department has lacked leadership and organization,
said Webster, who was a Chatham deputy for 10 years until 2000. As
sheriff, he plans to institute weekly staff meetings and insist that
deputies use the chain of command. He hopes to boost officer
visibility by increasing the department's marked cars by at least 10
and having his command staff wear uniforms.

He promises to improve service by beefing up his deputies' training in
everything from domestic violence and fingerprinting to evidence
collection and report writing.

He plans to give school resource officers community-oriented tasks
during the summer, and he wants to create a call-in system that would
enable senior citizens to check in daily with his department.

But most of all, Webster plans to crack down on property crimes and
drugs, which go hand in hand, he said.

In 2001, Chatham deputies solved 7 percent of the county's property
crimes, less than half the state average of 18.1 percent and by far
the lowest clearance rate in the Triangle, according to the State
Bureau of Investigation. At the same time, in a county of almost
50,000 people, Chatham deputies made only 83 drug arrests, Webster
said.

"Nothing works well there," he said. "Every department needs
revamping. We've got a tremendous amount of work in front of us, and
that's the most frustrating part. ... It took a long time for the
department to get where it is. The county needs to have patience while
we are rebuilding." Aside from tactical changes, Webster hopes to
improve the department's feel. This weekend, he plans to move into an
office formerly occupied by a secretary. He will convert the old
telecommunications center into a reception area for citizens. And he
will turn one of his deputies into a desk officer who will meet
visitors in the entryway and be available to do fingerprinting and
serve warrants.

"I want to get a different mentality," Webster said. "I want to get
away from everything that's happened here. I want people to look at
this sheriff's department and say, 'Wow!' The citizens will be proud."

But Webster needs to build pride in his deputies, too. The office has
suffered since 5,000 pounds of confiscated marijuana was stolen on the
department's watch more than two years ago -- four-fifths from a
surplus Army truck parked behind the office, the rest from a pit at
the old county landfill. Webster hopes to help his deputies move on.

"I'm going to tell our people that's behind us," said Webster, who was
a Pittsboro police sergeant from 2000 until recently.

Webster expects his department to be short-staffed from the get-go.
Before taking office, he wrote letters to eight employees telling them
he would no longer need their services. Five deputies have retired.
But he doesn't expect much time to pass before he is overrun with
applications.

"Once people realize what we're doing in Chatham County," he said, "I
think our door is going to get knocked down."

Although many deputies have left the department, their numbers won't
all be missed. Webster will take over the department today with a
command staff drawn from several agencies around the Triangle. He said
the group has been meeting weekly to prepare.

Gary Blankenship, formerly a Carrboro investigator, will be a major,
second in command. Joe Birchett, who used to be an investigator in
Pittsboro, will be a captain in charge of investigations, narcotics
and civil matters, and Roy Allen, who was a correctional training
instructor at the N.C. Justice Academy in Apex, will be a captain over
patrol, bailiffs and reserve officers.

Mike Roberson, a former Chapel Hill investigator, will be a lieutenant
in charge of training and school resource officers. Doug Stuart, who
was a Siler City investigator, will be a lieutenant over
investigations. And three Chatham deputies -- Charles Gardner, Donald
Smith and Teriann Dubois -- will be promoted to lieutenant. Gardner
will specialize in narcotics, Smith will guide patrol, and Dubois will
handle administration.

"My top 10 people are going to be sharp," Webster said. "We're going
to have some good quality people in there that know what they're doing."