To all Employees
Sheriff's Office
Fort Bend County

My Vision for Professional Leadership at the Sheriff's Office

Dear Fellow Law Enforcement Professional:

I am writing this letter to you, an employee of the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office, for two reasons: first, I would like to inform you about my candidacy for the Office of Sheriff of Fort Bend County; and second, I want to address any concerns you may have about your future career at the Sheriff's Office if I am elected. I have made an effort to send this letter to all employees of the Sheriff's Office. You are welcome to forward a copy to any person who was inadvertently omitted.

I understand that your career is important to you, and I want to share with you a few of my intentions for the Sheriff's Office. First of all, during the campaign you may hear about my plans for improvements at the Sheriff's Office. I know that the street-level employees of the Sheriff's Office exemplify the best in law enforcement, and I want to ensure that you have all the tools and resources you need to serve the citizens of Fort Bend County. My concerns stem from a lack of leadership and commitment to service exemplified by the Sheriff's Office upper management.

I am concerned about the current atmosphere at the Sheriff's Office. Based on my years in law enforcement and the military, I know that personnel are the most important aspect of an efficient agency, and any disruption of manpower and loss of valuable in-house experience is detrimental to Fort Bend County. I believe that past arbitrary terminations have caused a great deal of harm and have negatively impacted your ability to serve the Fort Bend community. Likewise, arbitrary promotions, and promotions based on nepotism and favoritism, are not fair to employees, have a negative impact on morale, and show a disdain for your professional career.

I have served in many leadership roles with the US Army, most recently as a Major in a battalion stationed in Afghanistan. I appreciate the responsibility of leadership; and I also understand the value and importance of experienced and motivated employees. In order for an agency to demand the highest levels of performance from its employees, it must, in return, treat those employees with respect and dignity.

If I am elected sheriff, you will be treated professionally, with integrity and respect, with fair and just opportunities to perform, promote and succeed at a level on par with the best of United States law enforcement. I intend to earn your respect and loyalty, not demand it. Simply put, the intimidation of Sheriff's Office employees by the command staff will end.

I wholeheartedly welcome civil service for the Sheriff's Office and feel it will add to the professionalism and performance of the Sheriff's Office. Promotions under a civil service system will be based on demonstrated merit, and employees will be protected from arbitrary dismissals.

I understand that many of you are interested in my plans for the Sheriff's Office. My primary goal for the Sheriff's Office is to transform the management, operations, and mindset of the Sheriff's Office into a proactive, community-integrated, high-tech, information-based and efficient law enforcement services provider. In the near future, you may expect to find more information about my vision for the Sheriff's Office, via www.votenehls.com, but in the meantime, I would like to share a few with you.

First of all, I intend to address many shortfalls, including the crime-solve rates, personnel allocation, and use of department resources through improved leadership and management at the Sheriff's Office.

The Sheriff's Office leadership needs to create a positive work environment, and I intend to do so by assigning the following objectives to upper management: (1) emphasize professionalism for all employees of the Sheriff's Office; (2) create and communicate formalized procedures for measuring employee performance and qualifications, and reward employees accordingly; (3) incorporate frontline personnel into the important decision-making processes; and (4) solicit feedback from deputies on upper management and Sheriff's Office performance.

Finally, I must discuss a highly sensitive topic. I have reason to believe that some of you hesitate to show public support for me or my campaign because you fear that it may negatively impact your job status and financial security. I also understand if you feel pressured to demonstrate public support for Mr. Brady. Therefore, please do what you think is necessary to protect your family and career, but remember, no one gets to go into the polling booth with you, so vote your conscious.

If you have any questions about my candidacy or my feelings on how to best run the Sheriff's Office, please do not hesitate to contact me at any time. You may feel free to call me on my cell phone at 713-419-5994 or e-mail me (from your personal e-mail!) at troynehls@gmail.com.

Very truly yours,
Troy E. Nehls

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Constable Troy Nehls has announced he is entering the race to become the next Fort Bend County Sheriff. Nehls, a 19-year law enforcement veteran, has served two terms as the elected Constable in Fort Bend County, Precinct 4. The Republican primary election for the office of Sheriff is expected to be held on March 6, 2012.

While several factors are motivating Nehls to run for Sheriff, the most pressing are the lack of adequate customer service provided to crime victims, the lack of sufficient focus on residential burglaries, and the improper use of the resources currently allocated to the Sheriff’s Office. Nehls believes these deficiencies are due to a failure of leadership, a lack of vision, and apathy of the current upper management at the Sheriff’s Office. “I know that the street-level employees of the Sheriff’s Office exemplify the best in law enforcement,” clarifies Nehls, “but the senior staff is not performing up to expectations.”

“Residents should always believe they can contact the Sheriff’s Office and receive courteous and professional service,” states Nehls. “Anyone who has been a victim of crime in Fort Bend knows they rarely received even a courtesy call from the sheriff’s office after their case is filed,” adds Nehls. Over the past 10 years the Sheriff’s office has never solved over 5 percent of the burglaries, and this statistic is unacceptable. Nehls plans to create a culture focused on serving residents by solving property crimes. “It is unacceptable that Fort Bend County has the worst burglary crime solve rate in the State of Texas among counties populations over 100,000 people,” said Nehls.

Nehls stresses that upper management has failed to properly allocate resources within the Sheriff’s Office. “Detectives must be available when residents are available, and we all know that is not just 8a-5p, Monday-Thursday,” states Nehls. Constable Nehls believes upper management has taken advantage of the use of “take home” vehicles. “These vehicle deployments will be reviewed to ensure that vehicles only go home with personnel who are subject to being called out to serve residents in emergency situations,” states Nehls. For example, jail and training academy personnel are seldom subject to being called out, yet there are several take-home vehicles assigned to these divisions. Nehls believes elected officials have a responsibility to ensure employees are “fiscally responsible” with assets entrusted to them.

Troy lives with his wife Jill and two children outside of Richmond. In addition to his law enforcement experience, Troy served 21 years in the Army Reserve with overseas combat assignments in Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan, earning several awards including two Bronze Medal Stars. Nehls received a BA from Liberty University and is scheduled to receive a Masters in Criminal Justice from the University of Houston-Downtown this month.

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