Why Deputies are Getting Arrested Under Sheriff Javier Salazar



Stress on the BCSO Employees
Stress Effects at the Jail

I’ve been thinking about this one for a while.  I know Sheriff Salazar likes to say there are so many more arrests because he’s cleaning house, getting rid of all the bad officers, but as usual with Salazar, that doesn’t make any sense.  Most of the arrested officers were arrested by other law enforcement agencies for an immediate incident, not something they were under investigation for by Salazar.  He doesn’t get any credit for those arrests but I believe he does deserve a good amount of the blame.

Naturally, the BCSO tries to weed out the bad apples who apply to work there but some will always slip through.  People tend to think of good and bad employees as opposite extremes when in reality they are spread out across a range.  One employee may place extremely high value on being ethical while another may be just barely above the dividing line that drops him into unethical.

Good leadership tends to create a good working environment and can bring up employees who are close to the ethical divide.  Bad leadership creates a poor working environment and drastically increases the amount of stress that employees work under.  It can cause negative effects that can push people into unethical behavior .  Stress has a multitude of negative effects.  You can take a look at the chart from the Mayo Clinic but let me point out a few:  angry outbursts, drug or alcohol misuse, irritability or anger, and social withdrawal.

Stress and How it Affects You
Common Effects of Stress – Mayo Clinic

Everyone is fully aware that Sheriff Salazar and Chief Serrato are incompetent at their jobs.  Anyone saying otherwise has a personal agenda.  All you have to do is take a look at the news to see how upset the employees are and I have no doubt, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.  The amount of stress they are working under is bound to have effects on the staff.  Is it really any surprise that so many have been getting arrested for DWI when we all know that stress increases people’s use of alcohol and drugs?  Is it surprising that so many are getting arrested for various types of violence charges when we all know that stress can lead to anger issues?

Don’t get me wrong, if anyone breaks the law he or she needs to face the consequences but to act like this is just some strange occurrence and that it was just bad luck for Salazar that it happened under him, is ridiculous.  Worse yet, is to give him credit for “cleaning house”.  The recognition Salazar should be getting is for pushing his people to the breaking point and then using their misfortune to try to make himself look good.

Mistakes at the Jail

In fact, if you take a look at the Mayo Stress Chart you will also see some answers for a lot of the mistakes that are happening under Sheriff Salazar, with Chief Serrato’s help; lack of motivation or focus, fatigue, feeling overwhelmed, sadness or depression, and sleep problems.  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that those effects could cause people to make mistakes but rather than accept that his administration is the problem, Salazar has chosen to sink into paranoia thinking they are out to get him and is looking to file criminal charges against people.

That is an extremely concerning development.  There is no way his announcement about investigations didn’t affect the employees negatively and just adds to the downward spiral.  If you think Salazar can’t do anything unless there is proof then you don’t understand the power of the Sheriff’s Office.  This sheriff is willing to attempt to destroy people’s lives by forcing them to defend themselves against criminal charges because he thinks they are out to get him.  This must be a very scary point to be at for the employees of the Sheriff’s Office.

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