The Corrections Connection Network News (CCNN) recently caught up with Orange County (Fla.) Corrections Chief Timothy Ryan.  With nearly 30 years of experience in corrections, Ryan discussed with CCNN what he has learned during his journey through the field.  He also looks ahead at the future of the Orange County Corrections Department. 

Q: How did you get your start in corrections?

Ryan: You know, it is an interesting question in that I don't think that we all start out with the idea that we're going to go down one path.  I had gone to business school at the University of California at Berkeley, which was not the normal route for a student at Berkeley.

I was a materialist, really, even though I came out of business and with that, I was looking at possibly going to law school.  My parents informed me that their assistance would be limited in my further schooling so I should start working.  A friend suggested that I get into law enforcement.  At this time, there was a push for formally educated people to get into law enforcement, so I applied for a deputy sheriff's position in Alameda County, Calif.  I took a test and, within a week, I was a deputy sheriff of a jail.

I sincerely liked it; I liked it from day one.  It was interesting, challenging and unique.  I was thrown into this job, which I found to be of great interest and personal satisfaction as I went through it.

Q: How did you end up as Chief of Corrections for Orange County?

Ryan: It's kind of a path of 30 years.  I started off as deputy sheriff in Alameda County and went through the ranks in the sheriff's organization.  By 1979 I was a lieutenant watch commander at the jail.  Then, I spent a couple of years at the women's facility.  By 1986 I was selected to be a captain at the Santa Rita facility.  I eventually became the commander of the jails and essentially did that for almost 10 years until 1998.

In 1998, I had the opportunity to move one county south.  They were looking for a Chief of Corrections in Santa Clara County.  I had spent a decade running the jails in Alameda County, and I moved there to have my own command.  I was selected by the Board of Supervisors there and I worked directly for them.

I spent four years in Santa Clara County and then looked around and said maybe there's not much more I can do here.  I was looking for an opportunity.  I think that each guy has to decide how he wants to spend his life.  I wanted to look for a new challenge and that's what I did when I left Alameda County and went to Santa Clara.  Then, I reached a point in Santa Clara County where I wondered if there was [yet] another challenge out there for me. 

Orange County Corrections incorporated both jail and community corrections operations, so working as Chief of Corrections there brought an opportunity for me to oversee probation operations, an area I was familiar with but had not run in the past.  It was an exciting opportunity and it kept my career moving.  I became Chief of Corrections for Orange County on March 25, 2002.

Also, I had become the President of the American Jail Association (AJA) in 2002 and served in that role once again in 2003.  I [was] the Immediate Past President of AJA [until last] spring.

Q: What strengths did you bring to your job as Chief of Corrections for Orange County?

Ryan: I've been privileged throughout my career to take on a lot of challenges.  I think one of the strengths that I bring is that diversity of experience, having worked for a sheriff, a Board of Supervisors and having worked with large jails, large budgets, unions and the issues surrounding them.  I'm familiar with the internal affairs, training and the standards for accreditation.  I know the expectations for a leadership role.  I bring a multitude of experiences in the business, certainly the local detention business. Hopefully that is a piece of why they chose me.

Also, before I went into [corrections] I was formally educated.  Then, I went on to get a masters degrees in public administration.  One of the expectations [of this job] is that you continue to formally educate yourself on what is going on in public service.  I went to the FBI national academy.  I continued to be educated by the California system [while I was there].  I had the opportunity while I was in Santa Clara County to go to the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government. 

I'm a believer in education and the constancy of education in order to ensure that you're staying ahead of the game.  [I believe in] constantly keeping yourself apprised of what's going on.

Also, [it's important] when working locally, wherever you are, to keep yourself attuned to what your community is doing .  You constantly have to be aware of what is going on in [your] community.

Q: What have been your greatest accomplishments thus far in your career at Orange County?

Ryan: There are a lot of interesting things that have gone on [over] the last couple of years. When I was brought here, the department was under scrutiny because of a jail death related to jail oversight.  A commission [was formed to] take a look at the jail and see what needed to be done to correct the problem.  It made 211 recommendations for operational improvements to the jail; that's a huge number.  Of [those], 82 were specific to corrections [and some others were related to medical procedures].  One of my accomplishments, I'd like to say, is that I came in here with the understanding that an assessment was going on and I needed to do something with [the information the commission gave me].  We've accomplished 50 percent of the recommendations and made them real in concert with the medical improvements and the case processing improvements.  We've come together [with other agencies] and the outcome of that has been that we had over 4,000 inmates in custody here a year and a half ago, but, this morning, we have 3,200.  I would like to say that that is an outgrowth of me coming in hear and grabbing a hold of those recommendations and making them real in collaboration with other agencies.  There's been a viable outcome - the jail population has gone down because of what we've done.

[Aside from reducing the jail population, we have implemented a] video visitation [program], [opened] a new female detention center and reorganized the department.  We also looked at the budget and were able to return over $7 million this year out of $120 million.  We now have the lowest overtime expenditures since 1996 and we've reduced the number of internal affairs investigations.  In addition, we've reassessed the whole training program here and developed a five-year strategic plan.

There are a lot of things we can point to as an organization that we've moved ahead, but on not all of them have been "Tim Ryan" accomplishments.  [It's been a team effort].

Q: What do you see for the future?

Ryan: Let's lead the nation in every place that we can.  We're continuing to have visions about where [Orange County] is going.

Whenever you start you're never done in this business.  I'm not so sure every day when I walk in what was accomplished, except when I look back on it.  It's important that [you look back on your visions from a year ago] and say, "We did do it and we're going down a better path."

There's always something else to do.  There's always a way to improve yourself.  Part of our culture [in the United States] is that we're inventive.  We're innovative.  We have to ensure that whatever we're doing, we're critically assessing it for its future implications.

Much of this business is negative in the local press and television.  We don't get a whole lot of accolades for [releasing] an inmate and [having him] not return.  We do get  recognized when somebody escapes or an officer gets in trouble, though.  My job is to try to work to help the community to see the good work that we do.  [We want the community to] embrace us and say that we are trustworthy and we deserve their positive attention. 

[Above all], our goal is to keep the community safe.  And we do a good job.