A Touch of Professionalism

Following a period of turmoil in the Buffalo Police Department, Mayor Jerry Hardesty and the Buffalo Board of Aldermen were seeking a police chief who could bring stability and professionalism. The man they chose was Sam Hartsell, who had 37 years of experience in several police departments, including 20 years as chief at Cassville, Centralia and Republic.

The mild-mannered Hartsell, who always looks neatly dressed and … well, professional … has lived up to those expectations since he was hired in August 2008.

“I think Sam is great for Buffalo,” said Mayor Jerry Hardesty, “and the general consensus among members of the board of aldermen is that he is doing an excellent job. He is making the department more professional.”

Hardesty said that everybody from the state attorney general on down to his former employers have had nothing but good things to say about Hartsell, “and he gets along well with everybody.”

Since becoming chief, Hartsell has stressed to police officers that the public must see them in a positive light. To this end, he wrote a booklet for each officer called, “A Chosen Profession,” to emphasize the moral values needed by police department employees. He also allows “no sloppy dress.”

“They must earn the respect of the public,” he said. “So many officers watch cops on TV, they forget that they are public servants.”

One of Hartsell’s first challenges was to get the department back to full capacity, which is seven full-time officers, including himself. In addition, there are six unpaid reserve officers who work part time. Many of these are people who have graduated from the police academy and want to work full time but haven’t yet found positions.

“A lot of departments don’t have reserve programs because they don’t want the liability,” Hartsell said, “but I find them to be assets who can help us with security and certain events. Some of these have been in other police departments in the past.”

Hartsell also got the police department building cleaned up, added a department mission statement and a police manual. The manual is approximately 1,000 pages and covers just about every possible situation. His handouts to new department personnel include a law enforcement oath of honor and oath of office, and a police code of ethics. Officers are required to sign a receipt of acknowledgment that they have read it and understand it.

The new chief added some evidence-processing equipment and a finger-printing operation, which sits on a stand constructed by members of the city street department. The same workers also built a speaker’s podium for the department. Another professional touch was to add a system for recording interviews with suspects and witnesses.

Constantly trying to improve and uphold the department’s image, Hartsell added photos of all police officers on a wall in the hallway.

“This is so if a citizen has a compliment or complaint about a certain officer and doesn’t know the name, he or she can find the person on the wall,” he said.

One of Hartsell’s goals for the future is to implement a Neighborhood Watch program. This is where neighbors get together in a meeting and agree to become the eyes and ears of the police department and let the department know if there are any security problems.

“The response hasn’t been good so far,” he said, “but I hope we can get more results this summer. Only people from one area have come forward; people may be complacent because not much is happening in their area (regarding crimes, etc.).”

The chief also wants to improve the starting pay of officers, which is now $9.70 per hour, although he realizes this will be tough to do in a down economy.

Hartsell added that he has been building a rapport with Dallas County Sheriff Mike Rackley.

“The sheriff needs manpower help,” he said. “We must help each other.”

The Buffalo Police Department recently hired Tony Kinser as a K-9 officer and has a new drug dog, Goisy (see the Buffalo Reflex, Dec. 9). Hartsell reported this week that Goisy had passed the canine certification and is now certified to detect marijuana, amphetamines, cocaine, heroin, hashish and crack cocaine.

He and his wife, Patricia, moved to Buffalo from Republic shortly after he was hired. They have two married sons and five grandsons.

By Paul Campbell

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