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By Sam Hosler
Kearny Mayor
“Ijust stood there and looked important.” That’s a direct quote from Sergeant Dave Blue of Arizona’s Department of Public Safety (the highway patrol) who is completing his special assignment this week as Interim Chief of Police for the Town of Kearny. That’s the way he sees what he has done in his few months with us, but I would like to fill out what he means by that simple statement.
Sergeant Blue came to be with us through a special program of Arizona’s Department of Public Safety. This program enables officers from the department to serve as interim chiefs of police, with a charge to explore the needs and concerns of the local department and to provide advice and leadership to the town. We heard about the program from the Town of Superior, which had made use of it and recommended it to us (Thank you, Margaret Gaston, now serving as Clerk and Manager for Superior).
Well, we got a lot more than we expected. Sergeant Blue reminds me of the Energizer Bunny, who “keeps going and going.” In a matter of weeks he made his way into the hearts of our department and was able, working with the people we already have, to make significant changes. Sergeant Blue did not merely command, he lead and encouraged.
There were material changes. In accord with state regulations, a new property and evidence room was established and all back years were inventoried. A separate armory was developed and strict new standards established. One really helpful item is a new vehicle work order system. All vehicles were inventoried and repaired to meet state standards. The new work order system means that weekly and monthly the condition of all vehicles is known and maintained. This leads to considerable financial savings as well as increasing the readiness of all the vehicles.
There was much training for police officers, dispatchers, and EMS personnel and fire volunteers. The new training for Operations and Communications totaled thirty hours. Through it all, Sergeant Blue worked with everyone to developed a unified mission, to be “Team Kearny” with an emphasis on customer service. The focus was on employee growth (both professional and personal), provision of tools needed to accomplish the mission, and procedural development of accountability to the mission and to each other.
“My aim is that no one works for me, but with me,” said Sergeant Blue. “The people here are working to meet the mission that they developed to meet the town-peoples’ expectations.”
It’s hard to imagine, but by his personal engagement Sergeant Blue and the team accomplished all this and managed to save the town money, too. New time accounting measures streamlined scheduling and, even with a small raise in wages to meet state law, the expenses came in 5% under budget.
Sergeant Blue doesn’t like to take credit. “Every team has a leader, and Town Manager Anna Flores’ vision leads the team,” he remarked.
Well, Sergeant Blue, take credit for being the Energizer Bunny when we needed one, for being out and about in our town, and for developing the respect of all who live in our community.
There are news or informational items frequently written by staff or submitted to the Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner, Superior Sun, Pinal Nugget or Oracle Towne Crier for inclusion in our print or digital products. These items are not credited with an author.
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