Oklahoma Sheriff's Office Plans Reform After Scathing Audit
Source: Associated Press
Oklahoma Sheriff's Office Plans Reform After Scathing Audit
By JUSTIN JUOZAPAVICIUS, ASSOCIATED PRESS
TULSA, Okla. Mar 3, 2016, 1:54 PM ET
An Oklahoma sheriff's office that came under scrutiny after a volunteer deputy fatally shot an unarmed man proposed sweeping changes to its personnel and record-keeping practices on Thursday, in response to an audit accusing the agency of a "system-wide failure of leadership and supervision."
Interim Sheriff Michelle Robinette said the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office plans to buy a new records management system and create new administrative positions, including training director, open records manager and a community engagement supervisor, among other additions to its 2017 fiscal year budget and strategic plan.
The Texas-based Community Safety Institute report released Feb. 25 determined that the Tulsa agency has been in "perceptible decline" for more than a decade.
The review was ordered after reserve deputy Robert Bates fatally shot Eric Harris during a gun-sales sting last April. Bates, who was a friend of ex-Sheriff Stanley Glanz and donated thousands of dollars in cash and equipment to the agency, resigned after the shooting. He has pleaded not guilty to a second-degree manslaughter charge, saying he mistakenly pulled a handgun while reaching for a stun gun. Bates goes to trial next month.
[font size=1]
-snip-[/font]
Read more:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/oklahoma-sheriffs-office-plans-reform-scathing-audit-37371685