(Since September 1, 2007, marked the anniversary of Sheriff Tim Gobble's first year in office, what better time for him to sit down for an interview and share his thoughts about what his year has been like? And what better person for him to sit down with than Bradley County's premier interviewer, J. Michael Leonard? The resulting conversation proved informative, salient and amusing. Read and enjoy ...)

JML: Well, let's just get right to it, shall we? Looking back over this past year, what accomplishments are you most proud of?
TG: Well, number one, we've streamlined operations, creating five distinct divisions along the lines of functional responsibility. That makes good sense from a management standpoint and is designed to save taxpayers money while meeting our statutory obligations. I know I've talked a lot about this, but it is a highlight of my first year, shifting that top-heavy management from the office to the field. This accomplished a number of things, including increasing our patrol, solving more crime, reducing the backlog of warrants and a lot of other things. There's still much more to do, but we've taken definite steps in the right directions.

JML: By redistributing those top heavy management salaries, you were able to increase the starting pay for deputies by, what? $2,000?
TG: Two thousand over where it was when I took office.

JML: You renegotiated the food contract at the jail.
TG: Renegotiated with ABL, the food contractor. We feel this year we will likely see a savings of somewhere in the neighborhood of $40,000.

JML: Forty grand? Really? That's significant.
TG: That's not bad. Again, that's a savings to the taxpayer. Now, that's an estimated amount, we don't have the exact figures, but that's about what we're looking at in savings.

This weekend marks the anniversary of my first year in the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office. I appreciate all the kindness and support I’ve received from the community. Bradley County is my home town and I believe it’s the best place in the world to live.

When I look back over the past 12 months, I see a year marked by much progress and positive change. I’m proud of the fact that we have more deputies out on patrol and I’m proud that I was able to restructure top heavy management and redistribute salaries in such a way as to increase deputies’ starting pay by $2,000. We’re still running about 22 percent behind the regional average in wages for agencies of similar size and responsibility, but at least it was a start.

For more about my first year as Bradley County Sheriff, read the in-depth interview I did with J. Michael Leonard here at the BCSO website. We've all been working hard to improve and update the BCSO website in order to provide the public with a reliable and accurate source of information regarding the Sheriff’s Office and some of the things we’re doing. Check in with us regularly. And if you have any comments, suggestions or observations you’d like to share, you can email me at: comments@bradleysheriff.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

Bradley deputies arrest Putnam County fugitive

Joseph Carol Caldwell

Sheriff Tim Gobble returned later with several deputies to again look for the "armed and dangerous" fugitive. As Deputy Todd Olinger arrived, he saw Caldwell at the edge of a wooded area near the house. Olinger chased the suspect into the thick woods but lost him. Meanwhile, Caldwell was spotted at Eagle’s Nest subdivision by Det. Sgt. Jimmy Woody and was placed in custody without incident.

No weapons were found on Caldwell when he was arrested. He was released to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office.

Arson fire nets three arrests after a sheriff’s deputy provides critical information

Gregory Aaron Taylor, 20

While he waited for the arrival of fire fighting equipment, he noticed a pickup truck occupied by three men drive by.  They identified

Joshua Lee Terry, 19

During questioning two of the three suspects were implicated in both fires.  Gregory Aaron Taylor, 20, and Joshua Lee Terry, 19, have been charged with arson and setting fire to personal property or land. The third suspect, Thomas Dean Goins, 21, is charged with arson in connection with last night’s fire.

Thomas Dean Goins, 21

Tennessee Code Annotated classifies arson as a class C felony and setting fire to personal property as a class E felony.

The Bomb and Arson Section of the state Fire Marshall’s Office is conducting additional investigation into fires in McMinn County but no charges have been filed at this time.