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Attention to service, mental health needs part of Emery's legacy

Pantagraph (Bloomington, IL) - 11/22/2014

Nov. 22--BLOOMINGTON -- When McLean County Sheriff Mike Emery retires Nov. 30, he will leave a long list of endeavors that brought significant change to the department where he served more than three decades.

Also leaving will be Chief Deputy Rusty Thomas, who is retiring after eight years with the sheriff's department and 28 years with Bloomington Police Department.

Sheriff-elect Jon Sandage takes over Dec. 1. Among projects he will oversee is a proposed jail expansion with a mental health unit.

Emery, 56, plans to take some time off before considering his options.

"There's tremendous commitment that comes with this career. You have to realize that on any given day after any given shift, you may not go home," said Emery.

Following four years with the U.S. Marines Corps, Emery started his career in 1982 with the sheriff's department. Late Sheriff Steve Brienan was Emery's example of what public service is all about.

"He knew that if you've spent 60 to 70 percent of your time on the street helping people, you've accomplished your goal," said Emery.

In turn, he was the mentor for DeWitt County Sheriff Jerod Shofner, who said Emery offered advice in difficult situations.

"I feel I can do my job better because I knew and worked with Mike Emery," said Shofner.

McLean County Board member Paul Segobiano of Bloomington, who shares Emery's west-side roots, said he "has really been a blessing to McLean County."

Among those achievements is an initiative to improve mental health services, said Segobiano. The County Board and community organizations began the work two years ago after Emery recognized the jail was the county's major provider of mental health treatment.

"He knew exactly what needed to be done to address the mental health issues in McLean County and how to go about it," said Segobiano.

Finding ways to keep mentally ill people out of jail and link them with services has long-range benefits, said Emery.

"I think every sheriff struggles with the mental health issue," he said. "But finding ways to make a person healthy and stay out of the criminal justice systems saves tens of thousands of dollars down the road and countless human lives."

Jim Lewis, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois, said Emery's attention to the mental health issue "provided genuine leadership on the issue of jail treatment of inmates with mental illness." An article authored by Emery on the issue will be circulated to law enforcement agencies across the state, said Lewis.

Jail Superintendent Greg Allen, named as the county's new chief deputy to replace Thomas, said the changes put in place during Emery's two terms "have benefited not only the persons incarcerated here but the staff and the community as well."

Thomas' retirement is well deserved, said Allen.

"It will be nice to see a man who honorably served the city of Bloomington for 28 years and then McLean County as chief deputy sheriff for another eight years enter retirement alongside someone like Mike Emery," said Allen.

After Emery was elected to his first term, Thomas moved from Bloomington police to the county. He and Emery had crossed paths, and Thomas had worked 25 years with his father, Bloomington Officer Albert "Butch" Emery.

In those first four years, Emery focused on jail overcrowding and complaints from the county's east side. Creating a substation in Saybrook and assigning an officer to patrol the area reduced emergency response times to 4.5 minutes from 29 minutes.

But "before 2009, we had never defined the usage of our jail," said Emery.

A study by the National Institute of Corrections helped address the overcrowding, and a newly established McLean County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council evaluated the system and looked for efficiencies.

In 2008, the county spent more than $700,000 to house inmates outside the county because there was no room at the Bloomington jail. That cost dropped to zero in 2011, the last time the county paid to house an inmate elsewhere.

The department's budget is the largest single budget in the county, and its control can be daunting. The agency has 137 employees, down from 146 when Emery took office, and the budget increased little more than 1 percent in eight years.

In addition, maneuvering the political landscape has been a balancing act, said Emery.

"I ran as Republican, but once I was in office, I was the sheriff of everyone," he said.

His approach to working with the County Board also crossed party lines.

"I found that if I was honest and upfront and able to communicate the needs of the sheriff's office, the board would support us," said Emery.

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(c)2014 The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Ill.)

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