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Eric Smith (Republican)
To help you decide, here is a summary of the Question & Answer session at Athens College, October 21.
In your opinion, what is the greatest threat Limestone County faces in terms of law enforcement over the next four years, and what plans do you have to address the issue? Please be specific in regard to your concerns and solutions.
Blakely: Our population continues to expand as well as our number of calls-for-service, along with our number of arrests and our daily inmate totals. Many of our arrests are associated with meth and other controlled substances. I expect to see that trend continue, but we will continue to make drug violations one of our primary concerns. Much of our other crime index is associated with drug use such as burglaries and thefts. We also expect to see a continued rise in computer crimes. We have already been involved in several identity theft cases and property cases where stolen property was listed for sale on the Internet. Some of our investigators have already attended classes related to this type investigation and evidence protection and management.
Smith: The greatest threat that I see Limestone County facing over the next four years is the continually growing drug problem. You can talk with just about any student in our schools and they can tell you of someone they know that uses drugs or someone you can see to get drugs. It’s sad that this has become a reality for our kids. In order to address this problem, I want to work to combat drugs on a continual basis, by implementing the use of K-9s on patrol. A drug dog is a very valuable resource that can also be utilized in our schools with the proper authorizations. If there is a fear of being caught with drugs, students will be less likely to bring drugs to school knowing that a drug dog can show up at any time. A drug dog can also aid in removing the drugs from the street before they reach our schools.
Question:
Limestone County Schools currently have an agreement with the sheriffs office to provide armed student resource officers in county schools. So far, the program has worked if you consider there have been no shooting incidents in our county schools. The program, however, is costly at an estimated $809,000 per year, with costs being split between the county's general fund and Limestone County Board of Education. Do you believe this program should be scaled back, or should funding and staffing levels remain the same?
Blakely: Our School Resource Officer program has been recognized by the State District Judges Association as a model program for Alabama. In our first year, our SROs work on absenteeism resulted in a 24 percent drop in truancy rates. Our dedicated effort continues today to keep young people in school, and, more teacher unit dollars returned to Limestone County Schools. By being innovative, we saved over $300,000 on this program by hiring six retired police officers as contract employees, saving the costs of benefits, vehicles, etc.
Smith: The School Resource Officer Program is one that I feel is very important. School is one of the last places a child needs to be worried that something bad is going to happen while he or she is there. It is virtually impossible to put a price tag on safety. If you scale back the number of deputies in the schools, this would cause a deputy to leave another school or leave patrol to respond to an incident, increasing the response time.
Question:
The 2014-2015 fiscal budget for the Limestone County Sheriffs Office is roughly $9 million, which includes general fund expenditures, jail operations, courthouse security and student resource officers. The department's budget represents roughly 63 percent of the county's overall budget. The sheriffs office also represents the most expensive county department with the highest number of employees at roughly 150. Do you believe this is an appropriate amount of funds for the department, or do you think it should be more or less? Please explain.
Blakely: The Limestone County Commission sets the budget for all county government, including the sheriff's office. They follow the law which sets public safety as the number one priority of local government. We have stayed within our budget each of the 31 years I've been in office and will continue to be careful stewards of tax dollars. Our correct number of employees is 107, and six contract SROs. Limestone County's population has more than doubled since I first became sheriff and most of our increases in staff have been due to federal and state mandates (sex offender notification and registration, court security personnel) have resulted in the increases in staff.
Smith: Limestone County Sheriff’s Department is responsible for patrolling anywhere from 60-80 percent of the county. Limestone County Sheriff’s Department is also one of the only county departments that has to operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We need to be able to pay our deputies a competitive salary in order to keep qualified officers, equip them with great equipment, and keep them in reliable vehicles in order to serve and protect the citizens of this county on a daily basis. The sheriff’s department needs a substantial budget.
Question:
Mike Blakely was elected to the office of sheriff in 1982 after having served nine years as a state trooper. Eric Smith is a current state trooper and has been so for 15 years. Please explain why Limestone County residents should vote for you based on your law enforcement experience, overall qualifications and plans for the future.
Blakely: This is by far, the most important question from the citizens' perspective. The knowledge that myself and the officers and employees have about their responsibilities as public servants, is two-fold. First, we have the best possible education in law, law enforcement, public safety issues, material acquisition and use, information technology, emergency response, and all facets of the jobs we face as the sheriff's office. We know how to serve all the people, all the time, with the proper attitude of public service. Second, and more importantly, we have "experience." I have been in law enforcement 43 years (11 as a state trooper and 32 as sheriff). The employees of my department are the most experienced in the state. Our record speaks for itself. We have grown with the times and will continue to grow and get better. Again, our record of doing so, speaks for itself.
Smith: During my career, I’ve had the honor to serve in several capacities. I have been a K-9 handler, where I was tasked with working drug interdiction throughout the state of Alabama. I have been a field training officer since 2000, where I am responsible for training and supervising new troopers. I have been an instructor at the state police academies, where I have taught classes to numerous new police officers from around the state. I have been a member of the Decatur Post Special Operations Team, where I received training in crowd control techniques, and disaster response. I have been a traffic homicide investigator, responsible for compiling case files related to crashes that involve fatalities. I am one of only four drug recognition expert Instructors in the state, where I’ve instructed officers from two states in the detection and evaluation of persons under the influence of drugs. I serve as an acting corporal for the Decatur Post when there is no supervision on shift. Being an acting corporal, requires me to provide supervision to other troopers. During these 18 years, I have had the privilege to work alongside other police agencies, fire departments, and other emergency medical personnel. I have established a great working relationship with all of these. I will work to combat the growing drug problem on a daily basis by implementing the use of police K-9s and establishing a drug interdiction team. I will work to establish a better relationship with communities in the county to better serve their needs. I want to put more deputies on the road, patrolling your neighborhoods and businesses.
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