THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 4, 1997 TAG: 9702040287
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY CATHERINE KOZAK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: 85 lines
Dare Central Communications is back under the authority of Dare County's top law enforcer.
The Board of Commissioners Monday unanimously approved a request by the county Criminal Justice Board that the move be made.
``It won't change anything in operations, (except) they will become employees of the sheriff,'' County Manager Terry Wheeler told the board.
As part of a county government reorganization in 1993, the commission removed Dare Central's duties from the sheriff's department and incorporated it into the Public Safety Department. But suddenly, local police access to a national crime information computer network was restricted.
The commissioners had been unaware that state law required that control of the communications center be in the hands of a law-enforcement official to tap into the federal data base. Within two weeks, the board created the seven-member Criminal Justice Board, made up of five municipal police chiefs, a sheriff's representative and the communications director.
Although there was good cooperation on the board, Wheeler said that it was not an efficient way to run communications.
Deputy Chief Rodney Midgett said earlier that the system at times was ``cumbersome.''
``Everybody was busy . . . everybody had their own responsibilities,'' Midgett said. ``It was difficult to get the board together to even have the meetings to take care of these things that had to be taken care of in a timely manner.''
Commissioner Shirley Hassell asked why, if it apparently ran fine under the sheriff, it was removed in the first place.
``My feeling was that communications was pretty large and pretty involved,'' responded Chairman Robert V. ``Bobby'' Owens, who also chaired the board that year. ``We had felt Dare County communications should be a function of county government.''
The motion was introduced by former Commissioner Sammy Smith, who was then running for sheriff against incumbent Sheriff A.L. ``Bert'' Austin. Smith said in a recent interview that there was no political motivation behind the move.
``As far as I knew, it got along either way,'' he said. ``I was satisfied with it for Bert, and I was satisfied with it with the (justice) board.''
With the change, Dare Central's acting director Debbie Remaley will be able to go back to dispatching.
``I don't want to run the joint anymore,'' Remaley said recently. ``I just don't want to be a department head anymore . . . It's boring - I don't like it. I like the immediate gratification with communications. I'm action oriented, goal oriented.''
Remaley had asked to step down as director last year, but she said the justice board could not find a suitable replacement. So she remained in charge and worked double duty as a shift supervisor ``like this woman caught in space,'' she said. Shortly after her decision, the justice board started talking about disbanding.
Wheeler said that Austin intends to replace Remaley with county Jail Administrator David Cowan.
Dare Central employs 16 telecommunicators who work around the clock in four-person shifts.
In a related issue, board members commented that they'd like to know more about a reported need for $10 million for more communications equipment.
``Before we spend $10 million for equipment, we should start sending smoke signals again,'' Owens said. ``I'm beginning to think that Dare County has a bottomless pit - that's what some people think.''
Drew Pullen of the Hatteras Island Business Association, which is asking the county for $25,000, didn't find the board much more receptive. Pullen said he needs seed money for a Civil War tourism project.
Pullen told commissioners that he believes that his group has located Fort Clark between Hatteras Village and the inlet, south of the ferry docks. And he said they believe several graves of the crew members from the Monitor have been found in Hatteras.
Owens told Pullen that the board will consider the project along with the others that will be discussed during upcoming budget workshops.
``We're going to have many, many requests between now and June,'' he said.
In other business Monday, the board:
Agreed to allow the Sheriff's Office to apply for a grant from the Governor's Crime Commission to equip two officers to work as community police officers in Manteo. The officers would use bicycles and police cars to patrol a 2-mile area between Bowser and Etheridge roads. The county would be expected to fund 25 percent - $57,873 in two years - of the program.
Appointed members to the Planning Board: In District 1, Mary Aldridge; in District 2 John Meyers; in District 3 Jonathon Britt; in District 4 Joe Kierzkowski and at-large, Elmer Midgett, who was reappointed as chairman, Marcia Fearing and Wayne Midgett.
KEYWORDS: DARE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT