I want to thank all of you for making this a place I am proud to serve. I went through all the nominations for the Pinnacle Awards yesterday, and it is so comforting and reassuring to be reminded of all the wonderful staff that work in our agency!  And, that is just those who were nominated….I know there are so many more!

In 2017, it seemed most of the “news” about our agency was not positive, but if the press read all the wonderful examples of dedicated staff, I believe the news stories would be very different!  I’m sorry that I have not done a better job of getting that information “out”, but I will try harder in 2018.  I hope you all will join me in spreading the word about the great people we have to work with in ADC!

Let’s all support one another in how we represent our agency, and in how we work together to support new officers and employees regardless of their role!  We all started at some point, and I hope our new staff appreciates the experienced staff and the other way around too!  Although we have a lot of vacancies, we hire a lot of people.  It appears that our challenge is retaining staff, so let’s all make a point to “thank” those who are at work and doing their best to follow policy and make our state a safer place to live!  Public safety is our mission!  We do not hire “guards”, we hire officers, chaplains, healthcare providers, food service staff, grievance and records staff, and many more who are vital to the success of rehabilitating our inmate population.

As an inmate reminded others yesterday, “you tried it your way and look where it got you.”  We have to be the example of professionalism which means coming to work ready to serve in our roles to the best of our ability, and treating everyone with respect!

Thank you again and Happy New Year to you and your families!

Be safe!

Wendy Kelley

Director