Sheriff Jim Ruth presents a retirement plaque to Sgt. Sanchez during the reception. At left is Capt. Eric Watson of the Judicial Services Division.

A reception was held in Sheriff Ruth's office to honor his years of dedicated service to the citizens of Bradley County.

De De Neely was arrested by the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday on a Meigs County warrant charging her with second degree murder.

Deputies assigned to the Sheriff’s Targeted Area Response and detectives found Neely at a home in the 1500 block of Johnson Boulevard and placed her in custody without incident.

Neely was released to Meigs County deputies.

Sheriff Jim Ruth's weekly column. 

In any relationship there must be a give and take.

A mutual trust must exist or that relationship will be very bumpy. So it is with the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office and the residents of Bradley County.

The dynamics of this relationship are both very obvious and very subtle.

I believe one of the dynamics of maintaining a good relationship is this conversation most every week in the Banner (albeit one-sided). When people respond on the street or online about my column or about the BCSO, I appreciate the comments; and, if there are legitimate complaints, I will work to do something about them.

I try to show our humanness in the "war stories" I share with you from time to time, and demonstrate a forthrightness with cold, hard facts.

These tales of reality can be either funny or very sad. My effort here is to let our community in on the "why" we do what we do at the Sheriff’s Office. I want the people of Bradley County to know the people at the BCSO.

Some in our community still hold onto an image they had of area law enforcement 30 to 40 years ago.

That image is usually very unflattering and even outright false. I believe a better image (the real picture of who we are) makes for a better relationship. A better relationship equals better law enforcement. For a maximum-performing BCSO, we must have the goodwill of the people we serve.

Personally, I have grown since announcing my intent to run for the office of sheriff in 2009.

I have grown emotionally and intellectually. My world view continues to expand as well. I, too, expect these things to be happening with my staff as well.

One does not have to compromise principles to have an open mind to new techniques and concepts in order to meet the law enforcement demands of the new century. We must not be like the old deacon who opposed the purchase of a new chandelier for the church foyer.

He contended, "We don’t need to waste our money on this newfangled thing, besides there is no one in the church that can play the thing, anyway."

Rest assured that we at the BCSO will not waste taxpayer money on that which is of no use.

The flip side of this coin, as I endeavor to keep you informed of the Sheriff’s Office functions, is that I want to persuade our citizens to become actively involved. How many crimes could be prevented and/or solved if all of our citizens would simply share information they have about criminal activity?

Some residents have a perverted view about reporting people who commit crimes.

They don’t report crime because they have some kind of warped feeling about being from the same neighborhood, or being distanly related, or causing some innocent person to suffer, etc. This is a misplaced loyalty.

Reporting a criminal and crimes which have been committed or that are being committed is exercising good citizenship. When one fails to act in such circumstances it means that person takes citizenship way too lightly.

That old saying, "Honor among thieves" is not a true saying at all.

Thieves and people who break the laws of the land are not honorable people. All felons are selfish, and self-centered in their actions. Any one of them will roll over, telling on their fellow actors if it will help their own plight.

As close-mouthed as the Mafia is supposed to be, many of them have given information to save their own skins for years.

That is commonplace.

There is no honor among thieves. This applies to today’s gangs. After swearing to secrecy they will still tell all they know to help themselves.

The next time you gain information about a crime, please do not hesitate to report it. We at the Sheriff’s Office need the public’s trust for us to be effective.

So, the public must be engaged in reporting crimes, serving on juries and participating in Neighborhood Watch in their sub-divisions or area of residence. To find out about Neighborhood Watch or to get one started in your area please call us at 728-7321.

Every citizen needs to keep abreast of what is happening in our community. They should seek information about every office holder and make each of us give account for our area of responsibility.

Everyone, rich or poor, should realize that they can be a victim of crime. It is going to take all of us together to keep the crime down. There is an irony about our patriotic commitment. Almost to the man, so to speak, we support our troops on foreign soil whether we agree with the war or not. We feel our soldiers are laying their lives on the line to keep our country and our neighborhoods safe. We think it is un-American to think otherwise.

On the other hand, some of these same individuals will not support the first line of defense (law enforcement), against the assault on our communities.

So it is, with the general public’s participation we can work to prevent, detect and solve crimes more quickly. We can all help to keep Bradley County the safe, peaceful community we all desire. We can work together to prevent, detect, solve and bring about a real reduction in crime.

This has to be done with the general public partnering with the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office.

That is my goal!

Sheriff Jim Ruth's weekly column... 

"Thunder was his engine …. White lightning was his load …. He left the road at 90 …. The devil got him first."

These lyrics are from the song Thunder Road by actor Robert Mitchum. Mitchum played the lead roll in this black and white film about a mountain family in the moonshine business. The movie later developed a cultic following in the south.

The story line of this movie romantisized the lives of those who today we would call less than honorable citizens. I saw the movie years after it first came out and have watched it several times since. Muscle car enthusiasts enjoyed seeing the souped up cars run in the chase scenes.

In the movie the moonshiners were justified in their law-breaking because they were supposedly, poor, humble folks who were victimized by the Federal Government. That same refrain is still being used by many criminals today. History tells us that these poor, underprivileged victims were finally put out of business by the dogged efforts of federal, state, and local law enforcement.

Well, the story doesn’t end there, because the descendants of the early moonshiners did not stop trying to make money the easy way. They simply traded the illicit enterprise for others. The sons of these moonshiners began stealing cars and trucks on a wholesale scale. They opened up chop shops where parts were removed and sold.

Next, car titles were also altered and serial number identification strips removed, then replaced with serial number strips from wrecked or salvaged vehicles. A chop shop operator could take a title to a new truck that had been totaled in a wreck and have one of his people go to another city to steal the same model and year of truck. Then the serial number from the stolen truck would then be replaced with the serial number from the wrecked one. The stolen truck would then be sold in the open market.

Much to our embarrassment Bradley County was once referred to as the "car theft capitol of the south." Bradley County was exposed to the world when CBS News did a story on mileage roll backs and chop shops. We had a hard time living that scorn down.

I use this example to underscore the importance of maintaining a trained, experienced, educated and viable county law enforcement agency. Local law enforcement was totally under-funded during those years. Funding for the Sheriff’s Office was an after thought.

It is regrettable that I may be sounding harsh as I assess the actions or lack of action of our political leaders of yesteryear. But, a peripheral look at the level of law enforcement tells us that Bradley County was off the mark.

People were critical of the law enforcement efforts then and they were right in their judgment. Yet, there were some bright spots of individual efforts within the ranks of local lawmen and political leaders. The efforts of these brave souls had some effect in deterring this illegal enterprise but it took years for law enforcement to get the upper hand.

We are on the verge of a similar dilemma right now. The difference is that we have the experienced, educated and trained people to get the job done. We need to keep those people motivated and working for us. We have too much invested to lose any of them.

Everyday on the television news we are told of shootings, stabbings, robberies, and home invasions that are happening just 20 minutes south of us down the interstate. Most people don’t want to talk about inner city crime and how it threatens our peace and tranquility. As Sheriff I must deal with these thoughts everyday.

We cannot ignore the signs of potential trouble as some have done in years past. Life comes at us quickly. We in law enforcement must always have our guard up against any threat. Like the Boy Scouts motto "Always Be Prepared," we must always be prepared.

At the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office we are working very diligently to protect and serve our county. I am asking for the goodwill and cooperation of our citizens to help keep our county a great place to live.

In the coming weeks I will be working with the County Commission for our budget needs for this coming fiscal year. It is for certain that almost everyone is stressed over financial matters these days. I understand budget constraints. I also understand that when Pandora is let out of the box, you probably won’t get Pandora back in the box. Ask Chattanoogans about that.

I do not have any fancy or outlandish projects to fund. I want to invest in our people. These skillful, experienced and educated people are our best defense against crime. Let’s keep them here in Bradley County. Let’s bring their living at least close to parity with the City of Cleveland.

It’s true that we are in very difficult economic times. Unemployment is high and jobs are hard to find. We at the Sheriff’s Office are thankful for the privilege of working for Bradley County.

We consider our profession a calling and we will continue to work hard. We will be diligent in our efforts to work smart and provide the most efficient, professional service possible to keep you safe.

We must make law enforcement a priority in our county budget. We cannot drop the ball on this one at this juncture in our history. ---- Thanks for hearing me out once again. I will be listening to you this week.