Sheriff-elect Young announces his administration

Monday, Dec. 16, 2002 | 11:10 a.m.

Sheriff-elect Bill Young has announced his executive staff, and many names are familiar from the administration of his predecessor, Sheriff Jerry Keller.

The resemblance is not accidental. Keller backed Young for the job, and Young, in a statement announcing his new staff, returned the compliment.

"I ran my campaign for sheriff on the platform that this is the finest police department in America," Young said. "The vast majority of the individuals I have appointed have previously served at the executive level in the department.

"The relatively few changes that I am making to the organization at the start of my administration is a reflection of my confidence in the strength of our leadership and the quality of men and women throughout Metro."

Deputy Chief Douglas Gillespie will be the new undersheriff, replacing Richard Winget, Young said. A 22-year veteran of the Metro Police Department, Gillespie serves as deputy chief of detention services, which operates the Clark County Detention Center.

Winget, who planned to retire after Keller left office, was nominated last month by President Bush to be U.S. Marshal for Nevada. He was first nominated in May by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev. The nomination must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Gillespie has previously been patrol commander and worked on a variety of assignments, including SWAT, K-9, the Police Academy and vice and narcotics. He holds a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice from the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y., and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.

"Doug has exceptional organizational and leadership skills, and he has a demonstrated ability to bring challenging projects to successful completion," Young said.

Young has created an assistant sheriff position to address growth in both the department's size and in Metro's community. "We are now the seventh largest law enforcement jurisdiction in the U.S.," he said.

Deputy Chief Mike Zagorski has been named as assistant sheriff for law enforcement operations and Deputy Chief Ray Flynn has been named assistant sheriff for law enforcement services.

Young, who was on leave until he takes office Jan. 6, was unavailable for comment this morning to describe the duties of the two jobs.

Zagorski currently serves as deputy chief of the patrol services division, after beginning his career with Metro in 1977 as a corrections officer. In 1979 he became a police officer and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and the Senior Management Institute for Police.

Flynn joined Metro 22 years ago and is currently the deputy chief of the investigative services division. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and the senior executive course at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He received a Metro Police medal of honor for his actions during a hostage situation.

Young said he has eliminated the rank of commander in order to allow captains to work directly under their deputy chiefs.

Four current commanders have been elevated to deputy chiefs. They include Lou Pascoe to deputy chief of human resources, Bill Conger to deputy chief of special operations, Cliff Davis to deputy chief of valley patrol division and Mike Ault to deputy chief of professional standards.

In other changes, Capt. Dennis Cobb has been promoted to deputy chief of technical services and Capt. Carl Fruge to deputy chief of the central patrol division.

Paul Martin, serving as executive director in detention services, has been promoted to chief of the same division.

Richard McKee will serve as deputy chief of investigative services division. He is currently deputy chief of the technical services division.

Kathryn Landreth, who currently serves as chief of policy and planning, has been appointed as Metro counsel to oversee the department's legal affairs.

Doug Spring has been reappointed executive director of personnel and Karen Keller has been reappointed as executive director of finance.

Sun reporter

Jennifer Lawson contributed to this report.