Press release from: Clackamas Co. Sheriff's Office
Posted:Friday, Nov. 4, 2011
Clackamas County Sheriff's Office Deputy Gary Bergerson (pictured above) is innovating new ways to transport inmates more effectively -- and saving money in the process.
And he wants to take his cost-saving plans nationwide.
"Gary's dedication and determination is amazing," says Undersheriff Dave Kirby. "He's saved hundreds of thousands of dollars for Clackamas County citizens."
A knack for 'penny-pinching'
Inmate transport is a massive task -- one that involves moving Clackamas County inmates to other jails and prisons and extraditing them from other states.
In 2009 alone, the job involved 27,800 miles of travel -- longer than a trip around the earth -- to move 796 inmates into the Clackamas County Jail and 1,213 inmates out of the jail.
Corrections Transport Deputy Bergerson seized the opportunity to analyze every aspect of prisoner transport -- re-thinking the entire system in the name of saving money and time.
"I'm a penny-pincher by nature," he says.
Part of that savings included forming partnerships with other agencies to share transport routes.
"For example," says Bergerson, "we had the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office cover our normal transport route every other Wednesday so we could drive our Pendleton route. We used to have two deputies on eight hours of overtime cover the normal transport route. This one change saved about $1,470 every month -- or $17,660 per year."
As a 2009 Sheriff's Office commendation of Bergerson put it: "He's become famous for his memos detailing his efficiencies and cost savings as an 'inmate import/export specialist.'"
Other common-sense innovations included pre-arranging inmate doctor appointments and using the NW Shuttle System instead of deputies to transport inmates regionally -- which Bergerson estimates saved the Sheriff's Office $103,664 in 2009 alone.
"In August 2011, I had my biggest savings yet -- $23,312 in a month," he says. "That's state and county money that can now go for other things."
A nationwide network?
But Bergerson isn't stopping there. He's looking to expand and connect a network to extradite inmates to and from other states.
"States east of Colorado have no in-state transport system," says Bergerson. "Each individual county handles their own extraditions. I'm working on changing this. It's not easy -- counties aren't immediately open to the idea of change. So I take the time" -- sometimes with cold-calls, sometimes in person -- "to emphasize the benefits of forming an in-state shuttle system of their own.
"My ultimate goal is to create a nationwide network," he says. "There isn't a national inmate transport system in place -- that just doesn’t make sense in this day and age. All law-enforcement agencies need to work together to be cost-effective with limited budgets."
In his current role as co-president of the Oregon Transport Association (OTA), Bergerson is making inroads toward his goal: "When I started three years ago, it was hard getting people out of California. Now I'm getting them out of Missouri and Wisconsin."
He recently traveled with OTA co-president Corporal Trish Deland to the National Association of Extradition Officials in Charleston, South Carolina. According to Frances A. Lushenko, Oregon's Director of Extradition Services, they " did an outstanding job" -- even taking the extra step to meet with the local sheriff "to further discuss how to begin implementation of the shuttle plan for the State of South Carolina.... It was a grand slam."
"When I first told people my goal, a couple of people laughed and said it was little far-fetched," says Bergerson. "They're not laughing now. The biggest hurdle is getting people to think outside the box."
Says Undersheriff Kirby: "If you think of how much Gary has saved the citizens in Clackamas County, and then think about multiplying that all over the country, you can really see what a lasting difference he's making."
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