By Greg Oliver

Courtesy The Journal

goliver@upstatetoday.com

COUNTY — Pickens County Sheriff Rick Clark and former assistant sheriff Tim Morgan both have considerable law enforcement experience. Both also have considerable differences of opinion, however, on how best to handle the operation.

The two men squared off last Tuesday in a candidate debate at Tri-County Technical College’s Easley campus, two weeks ahead of the June 14 primary.

Clark said prior to the debate he feels the sheriff’s office is making “positive movement forward” when it comes to a new jail.

“Our interim administrator has gotten on board, and we’ve had our first preliminary needs assessment done by Moseley Associates,” Clark said. “They’ve given some preliminary numbers on beds, how many people are coming in and a couple of different layouts.”

Clark didn’t give a time frame for a new jail, saying, “We’re going to invest our time in planning and make sure it’s done right.”

Morgan, who spent 22 of his 37 years in the sheriff’s office as the right-hand man to longtime Sheriff David Stone, said he feels leadership “is the biggest issue.”

“There’s a lot of other peripheral issues that need to be addressed, but leadership, officers needing support and addressing all those is going to be a matter of working with people and not having a toxic relationship with Pickens County Council,” Morgan said. “They gave him the keys to the sheriff’s office bus, and he gave it to others and said, ‘You drive.’”

When he first announced plans to seek office earlier this year, Morgan said he has worked successfully with dozens of county councils through the years to provide for the needs of the sheriff’s office “while being fiscally responsible to the citizens.”

“A leader who refuses to work with others when he doesn’t get his way does a disservice both to those he leads and the community for which he is responsible,” Morgan said. “Council sent a letter to the governor in 2015 saying they were at odds with the sheriff’s office. How can you get anything done if you can’t get along with people?”

Clark said the sheriff’s office has worked to meet his goal of instituting new technology upon entering office four years ago.

“We bought a cellular phone analyzer where we don’t have to drive to Columbia anymore and can instead go to Greenville and Anderson,” he said. “We have to get a search warrant and download all the data that’s on the phone.

“One of the things we’ve upgraded at the courthouse and detention (center) is installing a high-definition video system. We were facing a huge liability because of a system you couldn’t see. Over the next four years, we need to look at upgrading our records maintenance system and jail management system in a lot of areas.”

Morgan scoffs at the technology improvements, saying that, “it’s the same computer system, the same computers (at the sheriff’s office).”

“I would like to see technology that improves the safety of officers and the public,” Morgan said. “Technology is overrated, because the right technology applied to the right application is a good thing.”

While attending an FBI Academy conference in March, Morgan said officials told the class officers needed to “get out of the car and talk to people.”

“Computers are a tool in a toolbox, and they don’t solve crimes, people do,” he said. “There’s some good things out there — it’s just a matter of what the county is willing to spend. Don’t buy it for technology’s sake; make sure it’s appropriate. I want to get back to the basics of talking to people.

“I heard one time the worst thing that happened to law enforcement is the patrol car. There has to be more of a concerted effort to get out of the patrol car and talk to people.”

Clark said the sheriff’s office is committed to addressing the drug problem that plaguing Pickens County — evidenced by the multiple drug busts that have occurred during his tenure.

“We’re going to keep our throttle open on getting drug dealers in jail and a hand up to keep them out,” Clark said. “We have a great staff here, and one of the reasons it works so well is our officers on the road are in correlation with our narcotics officer. Forming our Community Action Team has been one of our successes.”

Morgan said he feels the news media should “look at the quality of those arrests.”

“You sign a warrant and call them an arrest. … You’ve got officers who are going to do their job — they just need leadership in the right direction,” he said.

Clark said the murder rate in Pickens County “has not really increased that much” in recent years.

“There’s just been some high-profile cases,” he said.

Domestic violence, the sheriff said, has always been a problem statewide, including Pickens County.

Morgan said he is concerned with turnover that has occurred in the sheriff’s office — pointing to county personnel records that show that 54 employees, or approximately 40 percent of the total number of full-time workers, have left employment or transferred out in the last three years.

“I have not called the first employee or asked them any questions,” Morgan said. “If someone wants to call me, I’ll be glad to listen to them. But when you walk through the door of the sheriff’s office, it needs to be like you’re coming home to family. When one part is pitted against another, there’s no way you can do your job effectively.”

Clark said the biggest improvement in the sheriff’s office is “the way we organize things and the mission we have in protecting the public.”

“We have a focus on making sure those who commit crimes are caught,” Clark said.

Morgan said he believes that the sheriff’s office must do a better job of using the resources that are available and balancing drug education and prevention with treatment.

“Perhaps we could have some retired officers providing some mentoring, and it wouldn’t cost the taxpayers a thing — even starting in elementary schools,” Morgan said. “We’ve got some great professionals in the retirement communities — a growing complement of law enforcement officers — and I think we need to use evidence-based models, to see what has worked and hasn’t worked.”

The sheriff’s office, Morgan said, “belongs to the citizens.”

“The person occupying the position is just the temporary custodian of the office,” Morgan said. “Therefore, there should be a greater emphasis on service to our citizens.”