Video: Piper Restructures Forsyth County Sheriff's Office

Fifteen positions were eliminated this week at the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office as part of the restructuring and reorganization of the agency.

Sheriff Duane Piper said on Wednesday the jobs that are gone were middle management positions made up of four captains, six lieutenants and three sergeants.

"We were able to work with the county and provide a severance package to these individuals," said Piper.

The rank of Lieutenant Colonel was also eliminated and two vacant positions, a sergeant and lieutenant, were not filled. In addition, about 60 employees have been reassigned throughout the sheriff's office.

Piper said while "the saving of the money is a very fortunate by product" of the layoffs and reorganization, it is not the sole reason.

"The reason is to become more effective," he said. "The purpose of the restructuring is to better serve the community. To actually be responsive and of service to the community rather than building specialized units just for the sake of having specialized units."

Piper's belief was that the agency had too many middle management positions and not enough service oriented positions. But his actions this week change all of that and beginning Monday, Feb. 25, seven new officers and the addition of a sergeant will join the School Resource Unit. Also, the existing Community Relations Unit is being expanded from four deputies to eight.

"This increase in the Community Relations Unit will allow for the expansion and new development of the community-based programs," said Piper.

See the new reorganization chart of the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office attached to this article.

Another addition in the restructuring of the agency is the creation of the ProActive Community Enforcement (P.A.C.E.) Unit. This is a unit that will operate countywide conducting targeted enforcement in problematic areas and assist with frequent monitoring of registered sex offenders who reside in the county.

Piper was sworn in as sheriff on Dec. 20 and took office on Jan. 1. Following the ceremony he told Cumming Patch, "The first I'll be doing is watching, it's going to be an evolutionary process, evaluating what we're doing and adjusting, so we can do things more affectively and more efficiently."

See the video of Sheriff Piper explaining the restructuring of the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office - update: 2-21-13, 6:36 p.m.

Piper said it's not anticipated that there will be any more layoffs within the sheriff's office.

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