#WomenAtCPA: Vergil Ratliff

Women in Leadership:?Vergil Ratliff, Captain of Professional Standards, Criminal Investigation Division

Striving for excellence has been an enduring aspiration for?Vergil Ratliff, an ambition in line with her role as captain of professional standards for the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of the Comptroller’s office.

Ratliff divides her workdays between the Houston field office and Austin’s CID headquarters, but coworkers are more likely to see her in the capital these days. She’s working tirelessly to meet a September deadline: preparing the CID to be reaccredited by the Best Practices Accreditation Program through the Texas Police Chiefs Association. For a law enforcement agency to maintain its best practices rating, it must be reassessed every four years based on 170 law enforcement standards.

“I oversee professional standards, identifying the practices CID should follow to ensure a sound operation,” she says. “I also create and write policies that apply to the service operation and are mandated by legislation.”

Ratliff joined CPA eight years ago, bringing decades of law enforcement experience to the team. She was promoted to her current position in November 2021, a move she describes as an ideal opportunity.

“I'm a retired Houston police officer, so when I came to the agency, I brought a broad genre of experiences. I had done investigative work in undercover narcotics in addition to internal affairs, patrol and dignitary protection detail for two Houston mayors,” she recounts.

She leads a team of three analytics personnel who research data to support field investigators. She’s especially proud of their collaboration anywhere a potential crime needs to be examined for other CPA departments and divisions such as the executive team, Unclaimed Property or Audit. She describes her group as multitaskers who can use their skill set to assist law enforcement and the organization.

“I tell my staff all the time that they're smarter than me, which makes my job a lot easier,” Ratliff says I believe in supportive leadership that empowers people. It creates a desire to learn and inspires a team to exercise excellence. I'm a person who encourages excellence — not perfection — but excellence.”

That means when people walk into her office, she puts down her pencil and gives them her full attention, even if her administrative duties end up requiring a late night.

“I may not get off at five. I might get off at seven, but if my subordinates went home feeling good, and if they’re ready to come back tomorrow and give 100 percent, I've done what I needed to do.”

“When you manage, you don't just manage the project and you don't just manage the day-to-day activities of the organization ... the mission of the organization is what drives us to do what we do,” she says. “You manage people’s lives. It's still about the service that you provide to individuals on a day-to-day basis. As we look at our communities, our cities and our country, we realize the needs are greater than they’ve ever been.”