The county Human Resources Department has an investigator for the first time to conduct internal investigations.
Steven Van Winkle was an investigator at the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office until this week when he joined Human Resources. "I'm excited to get started," he said. "The county didn't have anyone specifically to investigate certain allegations of wrongdoing."
He worked at the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office for four and a half years, but the position was eliminated. Van Winkle, a retired Fairfax County police officer, also worked for two and a half years in the Loudoun County Sheriff's Department criminal investigation division.
Susan Hack, director of Human Resources, said there was a need for an investigator because of the increasing size of the county work force. The county has 2,644.74 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees, double the amount a decade ago. In 1994, Loudoun had 1,265.75 full-time equivalent employees. An FTE is based on part-time hours and full-time workweeks of 37 -hour, 40-hour or 42-hour weeks. Consequently, the actual number of employees exceeds the FTE figure. The number does not include the employees hired by the school system.
"The position is to provide assistance for any type of internal investigation that the county administrator feels appropriate," she said.
County Administrator Kirby Bowers said an investigator would investigate complaints of harassment and other internal problems.
"We have a need, given the size of the work force we have and the day-to-day personnel issues that surface," he said. "This individual is excellent at that."
Bowers said Van Winkle would interview employees about any type of complaint that goes to Human Resources. "From my perspective, you need a strong system of financial controls and a strong system of human resources. This person complements and enhances that to make sure the system is healthy and operates in an effective manner."