Promises Made, Promises Kept- Sheriff Gabe Morgan has spent his first term in Office reorganizing, updating, and modernizing the Newport News Sheriff's Office.

Although the list below is extensive, it's not all inclusive because Sheriff Gabe Morgan has accomplished many things during his first term in Office.

A Proven Visionary Leader - With Real Results:

Reduced Overcrowding-

• Ushered legislation through the General Assembly to enable the City of Newport News to secure an exemption to the moratorium on jail expansion and construction
• Spearheaded the jail annex expansion project from the final design stage through completion
• Instrumental in changing the original concept of the jail annex from an all female facility to a rehabilitation facility with three classrooms and two multipurpose rooms
• Collaborated with the City to create approximately 200 additional inmate bed spaces (annex and Public Safety Building phase III project)
• Re-organized the inmate weekender program where weekenders pickup litter and other various tasks to help maintain a clean City to save taxpayers' dollars
• Re-established Electronic Home Monitoring Program using state-of-the-art GPS technology
• Initiated a study by the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) to assess the City of Newport News' Justice System to determine where improvements can be made within the system

Quality Professional Staff Development - Instills Leadership-

• Established annual goals and objectives to assure continuous improvement
• Implemented strict hiring standards (agility, polygraph, background and oral board)
• Replaced worn service weapons for all sworn personnel
• Purchased intermediate weapons (ASP and OC spray). Previously, deputies only had two options: strong arm or deadly force
• Initiated and received certification as a satellite academy facility to instruct in-service and other   national training courses/curriculum within the Sheriff's Office
• In partnership with NIC, started an 18 month formal leadership development course for all supervisors
  
• Established a computer laboratory and a training room with state-of-the-art equipment
• Promotes additional leadership training for all upper-level supervisors by attending the University of Virginia National Criminal Justice Command College
• Embodies empowerment-  expertise and the specific knowledge should have the responsibility and authority for making decisions
• Promotes professionalism, excellence and innovation at all levels
• Stimulates individual growth and responsibilities

Improved employee Compensation and Morale-

• Completed an in-depth job audit conducted by Evergreen Solutions, LLC.
• Created numerous promotion opportunities to eliminate the existing “stovepipes”  and to foster the development of a “bench”  (the sharing of the knowledge base)
• Created a competitive promotion selection process to ensure the best qualified are promoted
• Established a disciplinary review board to ensure fair and equitable treatment
• Converted from a monthly pay system to a bi-monthly pay system
• Established a formal promotion ceremony that features prominent guest speakers like the Virginia Attorney General and the Virginia Secretary of Public Safety
• Sought after and secured a fair Sheriff's Office pay scale consistent with other City public safety personnel
• Established a continuous hiring process to maintain no more than a five percent vacancy rate
• Established a chaplaincy program geared towards the well being of employees
• Established an extra duty program that allows deputies the opportunity to increase their income by performing security at various approved locations

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Reorganization of the Sheriff's Office-

• Realigned duties and priorities along functional lines
• Fosters decision-making into the organization, giving greater latitude to supervisors
• Strengthen the organization's capacity to move forward strategically
• Created a Professional Standards Bureau
• Encompassed diversity within the organizational structure - minorities and women
• Empowers teamwork and collaboration across functional lines that is, elimination of "stovepipes"
• Established positions for part-time court security deputies to address court security shortages
• Established a K-9 section (Narcotics and Explosive) to address the flow of drugs in the jail and to expedite the return to the court docket after a bomb threat
• Created a Public Information Office (PIO) enabling transparency, which builds public trust and credibility
• Established an Annual Report to keep employees, City officials, and citizens informed

Cooperation with other Local, City, State, and Federal Agencies-

• Entered into an agreement with the Newport News Police Department transferring the responsibility for Temporary Detention Orders and Extraditions to the Sheriff’s Office ( This allows for the PD to remain within the City Limits… policing the city)
• Established a Crisis Intervention Team that responds to a scene in an effort to bring resolution, other than jail,  to a situation involving a mentally ill person
• Conduct mock on-site accreditation assessments for other law-enforcement agencies
• Conduct mandated DNA sampling for Juvenile Justice Services on convicted juveniles
• Conduct Court Security Assessment for the Virginia Judicial Security Initiative Program by assessing courthouses within the Commonwealth
• Applied for and received a Homeland Security Grant to purchase an additional X-Ray machine to enhance courthouse security
• Renegotiated the contract for housing Federal prisoners with the US Marshals Service in conjunction with the new Federal Courthouse located in Newport News
• Partnered with the Newport News Public Schools system to teach Class Action and Life Skills. Over 2,400 of our children have been taught this current school year
• In partnership with the United Sates Army signed an agreement, Partnership for Youth Success, giving qualified soldiers leaving the army, priority consideration in the employment process
• Continuous support and partnership with many local civic organizations such as, Weed and Seed, Field of Friends, SALT Council, TRIAD, Every 15 Minutes, Achievable Dreams,  Hampton Roads Media Council, Dad's Walk, and Walk a Mile in Her Shoes just to name a few

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Improved and Enhanced Correctional Programs to Reduce Recidivism-

• Enhanced Hispanic Programs
• Increased drug rehabilitation classes
• Initiated a work-release program
• Created additional educational and vocational training skills (Alcoholic Anonymous, Anger Management, Money Management, HIV/AIDS Counseling, One-on-One Counseling, Faith Based Movies, Life Skills, English as a Second language, basic computer, sewing, and brick masonry)
• Partnered with the Newport News Public Schools to enhance our GED program which produced dramatic improvements in the number of inmates obtaining their GED while incarcerated

Jail Facility Environmental Health and Safety Improvements-

• Completed a risk assessment by conducting a full scale evacuation drill using 200 sailors as inmates
• Renovated all inmate showers by striping all the paint and applying epoxy resin. This was also done in the kitchen facility
• Painted the jail to address health and welfare issues
• Identified life safety issues within the jail facility- City capital improvements phase I and phase II
• Started a life cycle replacement program to replace aging handheld radios
• Procured an emergency evacuation chair to assist in the evacuation of disabled inmates down stairwells
• Procured Ultraviolet Germicidal Purification Systems for the destruction of Microbacterium Tuberculosis and most other airborne diseases, viruses, bacteria and mold
• Instrumental in the replacement of the old camera system to a thermal imaging camera system. During an emergency, this allows persons to be visible in a smoke filled room or hallways

Professionalism through Accreditation-

• In 2009 underwent a three year Department of Corrections' audit and met 113 standards out of a possible 113 (100%)
• Initiated and received  Virginia Law Enforcement Professional Standards Commission (VLEPSC) accreditation
• In 2006 underwent a three year Department of Corrections' audit and met 113 standards out of a possible 113 (100%)
• Adoption of quality policies and procedures that comply with professional standards
• Created a greater public confidence in the Sheriff's Office
• Diminished vulnerability to civil law suits and costly settlements

Community Relations-

• Initiated a sex offender’s watch portal on our web site
• Expanded the speakers' bureau to better serve community organizations
• Enhanced our youth mentoring efforts

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