The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office has made several changes to its command staff.
Gary Higginbotham was promoted from captain to major, a position that was reinstated after a three-year vacancy.
Capt. Andy Sides, who had been the Sheriff’s Office support services commander, was assigned to Higginbotham’s previous role of law enforcement commander.
Brian Taylor was promoted from detective lieutenant to captain and takes over the support services commander duties.
In addition, Nic Forler was promoted from corporal to lieutenant and now handles Taylor’s former duties overseeing the Sheriff’s Office’s detective bureau.
All the personnel changes formally went into effect July 31, the Sheriff’s Office reported.
Sheriff Dave Marshak said 20 people applied for the captain and lieutenant roles that opened up after Higginbotham was promoted.
Then, the initial pool was whittled down to eight candidates before the final decisions were made, Marshak said
“I expect a smooth transition,” he said. “They are incredibly smart. They are dedicated, and they bring a passion to their job. They are also not afraid to disagree with me, and that is important. I think it is important to hear different opinions.”
Higginbotham
Higginbotham, 54, of Barnhart received a $7,300 pay raise, increasing his annual salary from $90,000 to $97,300.
He has spent his entire 27-year law enforcement career with the Sheriff’s Office.
Higginbotham said he has served in a supervisor role at every level at the Sheriff’s Office.
He also said his promotion to major requires him to focus more on analyzing how the Sheriff’s Office operates.
“It will be checks and balances for use of force, racial profiling; it will be a lot of numbers and statistics,” he said. “We try to identify patterns or trends.”
Along with reviewing how the Sheriff’s Office operates, Higginbotham serves as a mentor to Sides and Taylor, Marshak said.
“It was appropriate for succession planning to make sure our leadership team is properly developed,” he said. “This was a no-brainer. He will do an excellent job. He has already demonstrated his capabilities. He is well respected in our county and the region as a result of his work with the St. Louis Major Case Squad.”
Higginbotham said he has been a member of the major case squad since 2005 and has served as a deputy commander for that unit since 2013. He said he will continue working with the major case squad, as well as continue investigating cases with the Sheriff’s Office.
He said the biggest change his new job requires is a larger role in overseeing Jefferson County Jail operations.
“It has been eight years since I was in a supervising role at the Jail,” Higginbotham said. “There will be a lot to learn there. I have a lot of interest in that. The Jail is like a small city, and it has to be maintained that way.”
Sides
Sides, 36, of Barnhart, who has worked in law enforcement for 11 years, will continue earning an $89,600 annual salary.
He was a member of the Festus and Kirkwood police departments before being hired as a captain at the Sheriff’s Office.
Sides said his new job is a return to a larger focus on the law enforcement side, after spending the past three and a half years focused more on administrative work at the Sheriff’s Office, like overseeing the Jail operations, the department’s civil process, the deputies’ duties at the Jefferson County Courthouse and uniform issues.
In his new role, Sides oversees patrol officers’ day-to-day duties, the detective bureau along with special operations.
“The law enforcement side is more in tune to what my career has been,” Sides said. “I look forward to being in that position and being part of the investigations and day-to-day duties of the law enforcement side. There are more opportunities to get out in the field.”
Marshak said Sides did a great job overseeing the support service side of the Sheriff’s Office.
“The successes we have had negotiating new contracts have been attributed to him. I think as a result of his work, he has saved our county hundreds of thousands of dollars annually,” Marshak said.
Sides said he is looking forward to his new role.
“We are excited about the moves and the direction the Sheriff’s Office is going,” he said. “We have a very forward-thinking sheriff, and I think it is good. There are always new projects, and we will continue to stay extremely busy. We will continue to actively recruit and try to retain our employees.”
Taylor
Taylor, 46, of Imperial received a $9,600 pay increase, from $80,000 to $89,600 a year.
The 20-year law enforcement veteran spent the first eight years of his career with the De Soto Police Department before hiring on at the Sheriff’s Office 12 years ago.
Of the four Sheriff’s Office members who were promoted or assigned to new jobs, Taylor has seen the most dramatic change in duties.
“I am coming into this pretty new,” Taylor said. “My last experience with the Jail was over 20 years ago, when I was a corrections officer. It is safe to say, the times have definitely changed. Capt. Sides has done tremendous things there, and it will be learning the responsibilities he had and the day-to-day operation.”
Marshak said Taylor is up to the challenge of shifting to an administrative role.
“Our success is really attributed to those people who are in leadership positions,” Marshak said. “All of us work together and share insights, knowledge and experience for success.”
Taylor said Marshak has done a good job of grooming Sheriff’s Office employees to handle a variety of duties and roles.
Taylor also said he believes having Sides in the building to answer questions will help him settle into his new role.
“That takes some stress off of you because they (Marshak and the other command staff members) are right there,” Taylor said. “You can go in and ask them for help, and they are more than willing to drop what they are doing and help.”
Taylor said he will miss the investigative side of police work, but he is looking forward to his new administrative role.
“Anything I can do to benefit the department,” he said. “I am fortunate that Capt. Sides did phenomenal things, so to step into his shoes should be a smooth transition.”
Forler
Forler, 40, of Pevely was paid $66,300 as a corporal and will be paid $83,100 as a lieutenant.
He has 18 years of experience in law enforcement and joined the Sheriff’s Office eight years ago after working for the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and Festus Police Department.
Forler most recently was part of the Sheriff’s Office internal affairs division.
“Nic has demonstrated strong leadership and investigative skills,” Marshak said. “We knew with Brian’s departure, he was the best fit for that position.”
Taylor said he will offer Forler any assistance he needs but stressed that the detective bureau is being turned over to good hands.
“The sheriff has put great people where they need to be,” Taylor said. “Lt. Forler is going to do amazing things over there. He will do a fantastic job.”