AOCDS is providing you with the valuable opportunity to hold the managers of the Sheriff’s Department and the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation accountable for their leadership and overall performance.
For the first time in our association’s history, we have mailed a confidential survey to every member asking for their ratings and comments on managers in their chain of command. The confidential survey will allow members to evaluate the ranks of Sheriff’s lieutenant through assistant sheriff and DA commanders and assistant chiefs.

The surveys were mailed on Saturday, November 29, to the mailing address AOCDS has on file for you. Many of you will be receiving the survey in the mail today. Please look for it.
Your input will help identify both good and poor managers and provide valuable insight on how the Sheriff’s Department and the DA’s Bureau of Investigation can better serve the public and improve the working conditions for its employees. We will present the findings to both the Sheriff’s Department and the District Attorney’s Office.

AOCDS has contracted with an independent third-party to receive, tabulate and interpret your ratings and comments. Lavell Communication Inc. has conducted leadership assessment surveys for the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs for the last 15 years and has successfully shepherded similar surveys for other law enforcement associations.

CONFIDENTIALITY
No one will know who returned a survey. Your anonymously completed survey will remain confidential and will not be shared with AOCDS or any other entity, including the District Attorney’s Office and Sheriff’s Department, per our confidentiality agreement with Lavell Communication Inc. Lavell Communication will securely maintain complete custody and control of the returned surveys at all times. No AOCDS staff or board member will have access to the surveys. After the information is tabulated, the surveys will be security shredded.

Your responses must be mailed back to the survey administrator in the enclosed stamped and addressed confidential envelope by Friday, December 12. Only original surveys enclosed in the confidential envelope will be accepted. Copies of the survey will not be counted.
We urge all AOCDS members to respond to this survey and provide their much needed input. Without your participation, we cannot get a clear picture of which managers are leading by example and which managers need to make adjustments. The survey results will be published in detail in a special issue of the Courier near the end of January.
Thank you for participating in this very important project.

Sincerely,

The AOCDS Board of Directors