[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 53 (Tuesday, April 23, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3895-S3896]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO SHERIFF MEL BAILEY

  Mr. HEFLIN. Mr. President, Jefferson County Sheriff Mel Bailey 
announced earlier this month that he will be retiring after a 
distinguished 33-year record as the county's chief law enforcement 
official. This means that for the first time since the early days of 
the Civil Rights Movement, Jefferson County will have a new sheriff. He 
is the dean of Alabama law enforcement officers.
  Mel Bailey has provided outstanding leadership, guidance, and service 
to the State of Alabama as Jefferson County's sheriff since 1963. 
Throughout his terms in office, he has made tremendous strides in 
preparing the sheriff's department for its fight against crime and in 
serving the citizens who elected him. In the process, he has become 
known as a symbol of law and order in Alabama.
  Since he has been in office, Mel Bailey has come to epitomize the 
office in the minds of many citizens. He joined the Birmingham Police 
Department in 1946 and was promoted to detective in 1953, resigning in 
1962 to successfully campaign for sheriff. He didn't draw an opponent 
until 1978, when he still received 70 percent of the vote.

[[Page S3896]]

  When Sheriff Bailey began his tenure, there were 77 sheriff's 
department employees working within a $735,000 budget. Today, the 
department has about 600 workers and a $28 million budget. He began the 
Turn in a Pusher [T.I.P.] program, the United Narcotic Detail Operation 
Program, and developed one of the first SWAT teams in the United 
States. He also initiated a countywide radio network that linked 34 
cities with the sheriff's department.
  Many give Sheriff Bailey credit for creating a modern, professional 
law enforcement agency. He put deputies in uniforms and into marked 
cars, and got his department to start investigating automobile 
accidents and keeping records. During the 1960's, he dramatically 
improved working conditions for deputies. In the 1970's, he established 
the county's substation system and the special deputies program. A 
training program for jailers was implemented in 1982. He worked to 
provide his deputies with the best equipment possible and began a 
standard training procedure which provided them with the expertise 
necessary to meet any threat. He has been instrumental in obtaining 
innovative equipment for use in fighting crime.
  For example, he implemented a radio-controlled toy airplane which can 
be used to drop tear gas or small bombs to stop a sniper lodged in a 
protected place. He also added a robot which police agencies can send 
into a building to dismantle a bomb. In both of these cases, a highly 
dangerous problem can now be handled without threat to the life of an 
officer.
  The outstanding contributions Sheriff Mel Bailey has made during his 
long tenure in office are the result of his great capabilities, his 
ability to delegate responsibility, and by his professional attitude. 
He has also surrounded himself with outstanding people who hold the 
same qualities of professionalism and commitment to fighting crime. He 
is a prominent symbol of law and order throughout Alabama. He has 
enjoyed the full confidence of the people of Jefferson County for good 
reason: his fundamental effectiveness in battling crime, as evidenced 
by the fact that he was named Alabama's Law Officer of the Year in 1971 
and was inducted into the Alabama Peace Officers Hall of Fame in 1991.
  I commend and congratulate Sheriff Mel Bailey for his many years of 
service to the cause of law enforcement in Alabama's most populous 
county. All are proud of his achievements and thankful for his long 
period of excellent service. He has done an outstanding job and I wish 
him well as he enters retirement.

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