Continuing to Change the Dallas Sheriff's Department

• Sheriff Valdez has hired over 400 new detention officers for the Dallas County jail, and continues to work daily to address the systemic problems in the jail system left to her by her predecessors. These new guards allow the Sheriff to keep the Jail within legal prisoner-to-guard ratio guidelines.
  
  
• During Sheriff Valdez's term, major progress has been made towards bringing the jail into compliance with all state and federal laws, after years of underfunding and neglect. Sanitation and maintenance have been addressed, and installation has begun on a new smoke exhalation system in the County Jail.
• Sheriff Valdez has worked with Parkland Hospital and other county agencies to bring the health care provided to inmates in the Dallas County Jail System in line with national and state standards. Sick individuals are no longer placed in jail, where they can present a health risk to the inmate population and the public, but instead are treated first.
  
  
• Sheriff Valdez led the development of a new Phase II of Dallas County's innovative traffic management plan. This plan allows Sheriff's deputies to patrol Dallas County highways, saving money and making aid available more quickly when drivers are injured or in danger. This new Phase II plan will extend service to almost all highway miles South of I-30 and will be fully implemented in 2008.
• The Sheriff has led her Department in partnerships with the Dallas County District Attorney, the County Probation Department and the Dallas County Constables to increase the enforcement of warrants and to locate probation absconders, thus removing dangerous individuals from Dallas neighborhoods.
• Sheriff Valdez has overseen the construction of the South Tower jail, a new jail system that will be organized and operated in a more modern way than the existing jail facilities.
• Sheriff Valdez has overseen the expansion and improvement of programs conducted by the Department, such as the Courtesey Patrol to aid stranded motorists and the County's DWI taskforce.

GOING GREEN!

The Sheriff’s Department is GOING GREEN! You may have
noticed paper recycling bins throughout the department. This is
just Phase I of a department-wide project to recycle.
Here’s how it’s going to work. Recycling containers will be placed
near work stations. Employees will start putting all paper products
in the recycling bins instead of throwing them in the trash. When
each container is full, the contents will be deposited into a central
collection container to be picked up for recycling.
Many of you already recycle at home so this is will be old hat for
you. For others, however, you may have to get into the habit of
looking for and utilizing the recycling bins.
You will find a list of items suitable for paper recycling including
glossy, colored, computer and plain paper, also brochures, news-
papers, magazines envelopes and more.

• Locations for the central collection containers will be the 1st
floor mail room in the Frank Crowley Building.
• West, North and Kays Towers—near the copy machine in the
supervisors office.
• Traffic at Langdon and Polk St.—in or near supervisors office.
Look for more information in the coming weeks!

We will also begin donating old blankets and mat-
tress covers — that are no longer serviceable for
inmates — to Dallas County area animal shelters.
These items are typically thrown away. The initia-
tive will reduce the cost of trash pick and will be of
great benefit to the local shelters.

You will also begin noticing recycling boxes from Office
Depot. Those will be used for ink jet and toner cartridges.
You can order FREE prepaid ink jet and toner cartridge
recycling boxes from the Office Depot Web site—SK 816-
656 for ink and SKU 824-712 for toner. Place them in
visible locations near your department main office or
copier area. Fill out the “From” section of the pre-paid
UPS label on the box and include the box with your normal
UPS pick-up or drop it off at your nearest UPS receptacle.
If you can’t find one—call 1-800-742-5877 to schedule a
pick-up.

• Sheriff Valdez overhauled the jail commissary contracting system, canceling "sweatheart" contracts set up by her predecessor. The commissary contract now brings in $1.5 million a year and these funds are used to improve programs for inmates in the Dallas County Jail System, offsetting costs that would otherwise be borne by taxpayers.
• Sheriff Valdez and her Department have worked with County Probation, the District Attorney and the Dallas County judges to move inmates through to their final disposition more quickly, alleviating population overcrowding in the Jail to save costs and ensure that space is available for truly dangerous criminals.
• The new standards put in place regarding medical care, sanitation and maintenance will lower potential liability to the County by reducing risk of infection or harm to Jail inmates.
• Sheriff's Deputies will expedite the clearing of accidents on highways covered by the Traffic Management Plan, saving commuters the costs associated with traffic delays and congestion.