In his inaugural speech, Harford County Sheriff Joseph P. Meadows said he was inheriting an agency in "critical" condition."
"The 'critical' description was accurate," the new sheriff said Tuesday, his first full day on the job. It was the same day he fired the chief deputy, Lt. Col. Thomas Broumel, and Paul Hastmann, the warden at the county Detention Center.
"The agency is in dire straits," the sheriff said. "The budget is out of control, and we have a critical manpower shortage on road patrol. There are lots of problems."
Friday, Sheriff Meadows said he had suspended all research involving the accreditation of the sheriff's office "pending a complete review."
"The problems with complying with accreditation guidelines are formidable and currently require excessive staffing and expenditures," he said in a three-paragraph statement.
"These resources are better spent in an effort to provide the community with additional deputies patrolling the streets of Harford County."
Getting more deputies on patrol has been a high priority for union deputies, nearly all of whom work in the patrol division.
Deputy 1st Class John J. Miner, president of Local 838 of the Harford County Deputy Sheriff's Union, said Friday that most of Sheriff Meadows' changes have not directly affected union personnel.
Deputy Miner, who works on patrol at night, said his union supports any changes that get more deputies on the road.
"The department recently has spent almost $3,000 for overtime involving accreditation, and that could have put people out on patrol," Deputy Miner said. "If positions can be filled from the inside and free those who were hired as Class I deputies, we're all for it."
Deputy Miner said the new sheriff has kept the union "completely informed" on the changes.
Sheriff Meadows campaigned against Democrat Robert E. Comes by attacking the incumbent's "poor management style" and often called the situation at the Detention Center a "mess."
Both campaign issues grew from the March 1992 death of William Ford in an isolation cell at the jail, where the inmate was serving a 30-day drunken-driving sentence.
Amid allegations of a botched investigation and under threat of a civil rights lawsuit, the county paid $400,000 to the Ford family last year. A Harford grand jury subsequently decided that Mr. Ford had strangled himself with a pillowcase.
Another inmate, Neicey D. Aldridge, 24, of Aberdeen, died July 24 at Fallston General Hospital after an asthma attack in the Detention Center, where she was serving a 90-day term for probation and traffic violations. Her family has announced its intention to sue the county.
The fact that Sheriff Meadows was invited to take his public oath with other county officials Monday is a "testament to the spirit of cooperation between County Executive Eileen M. Rehrmann, Council President Joanne S. Parrott and the members of the council," the new sheriff told the inaugural audience at Harford Community College.
His reference to the spirit of cooperation among the executive, legislative and law enforcement branches of county government drew an ovation from the 1,200 in attendance, the only applause that interrupted any of the day's speeches.
In the past, Harford sheriffs have been sworn in at the Circuit Courthouse in low-key affairs without the fanfare evident at last week's ceremonies.
The audience was liberally sprinkled with deputies, including leaders of the deputies union, who campaigned for Question A, a ballot referendum that would have stripped the sheriff of most of his law-enforcement powers. It was defeated in the Nov. 8 general election
Last week, Sheriff Meadows named Sgt. Edward Hopkins to replace Deputy 1st Class DeWayne Curry as his public information officer. Sergeant Hopkins, a criminal investigator for the past 11 years, most recently was assigned to the Child Advocacy Center.
"I don't expect to make any other major changes before Jan. 1," Sheriff Meadows said. "More tough decisions must be made. I want to take my time and do it right."