Eddy Lange Bell County Sheriff ix months ago when Sheriff Eddy Lange was sworn into office, he wasted no time in rolling up his sleeves and getting down to the official business of organizing and restructuring the sheriff’s department to improve efficiency and operations. “To be effective in law enforcement, the key is to be ‘proactive.’ We should be preventing crimes before they 28
AUGUST 2013 TEX APPEAL
occur, rather than only taking reports and ‘reacting’ to them after the fact. Especially things like home burglaries. This is a perfect example of the things our deputies may encounter on their rural patrols. A suspicious car that appears to be lost or out of place, may actually be casing homes. And we need to start asking questions if the backseat is loaded down with electronics and a big screen TV. That is how we become a proactive agency,” says Sheriff Lange. The department was originally comprised of only two divisions; however, Sheriff Lange has now expanded them to six, and is currently in the process of adding a seventh. This has
required a major realignment of personnel in order to support each division. Divisions now include patrol, criminal investigations, corrections, emergency management services, special crimes, and support services. “We are also creating a critical incident division so we’ll have a team ready to respond to calls involving mental health issues. This team will trained to work collaboratively with MHMR, to evaluate the individual and determine if we need to transport them to jail, or if they need to go straight to a local hospital or treatment facility. The last thing we want to do is fill up our jails with non-threatening, non-violent individuals who need mental