Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Winning Over the Cynical, One Officer at a Time – Erika Fletcher Is Hitting All the Right Notes in the Police Department

When you think of a police department, musicality doesn’t always come to mind. However, Administrative Assistant Erika Fletcher has music in her soul, and she has brought a new sense of harmony to the Southlake Police Department, working with the team to play from the same sheet music.

Erika has found her way to success by improving many of the Police Department’s work processes (sheet music), making it a point to proactively identify areas for improvement (refining technique), and collaborating with others to formulate a plan for positive change (orchestration). Her work has caught the attention of the officers and other employees she serves alongside, and there seems to be unanimous agreement. Erika Fletcher is making a noticeable difference.

Chief James Brandon has said, “I am regularly stopped by our officers so that they can specifically tell me how great Erika is. If you have ever worked with police officers, you may know that this is not normal. We are nothing if not a cynical group, and she has won all of us over.”

But what is it that makes Erika’s impact so great? “Since she was hired, it is not an exaggeration to say that she has improved everything that she has touched,” said Brandon.

From day one, Erika has embraced her role and has provided exceptional, executive-level administrative support to the Police Department. Using her education in mathematics and strong work experience, Erika looks to solve problems and address challenges. Here are just a few things Erika has tuned since coming on board:

• Improved efficiencies related to departmental purchasing and uniform ordering
• Improved communication & information sharing with departmental personnel
• Improved grant procurement and management processes

In addition to energetically and enthusiastically managing the business of the Police Department, Erika is the designer and co-owner with her husband, Milton, of Poco Poco Kids TV, a music education platform designed to teach kids about music in a safe and fun way. (Her husband, Milton, is a classically trained pianist.) Their online subscription service allows students to take virtual music lessons on demand. Maybe it’s the collaboration required to produce great music that has ensured Erika’s exceptional work with others in the workplace.

“The best way I know to describe Erika is that her “get it” factor is through the roof,” says Brandon. “She always seems to inherently know what needs to happen and how it should be accomplished; then it’s just magically successful.”

For her outstanding work behind the scenes supporting Southlake’s public safety professionals and getting them to work from the same sheet music, Erika Fletcher is being recognized as one of the City’s Unsung Heroes.

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