I, like many others here in Bradley County, pray for the safety and well-being of our deputies every single day. No one understands the volatile, uncertain nature of law enforcement better than law enforcement personnel themselves. In public service, what may seem to be a routine task can turn deadly in a heartbeat. A simple traffic stop, a warrant to be served, a court proceeding ~ a law enforcement officer never knows when the unexpected will intrude upon the situation, turning the mundane into the virulent.

This deadly X-factor ~ the specter of sudden violence ~ is simply a part of every public safety officer’s daily routine. And while every precaution is taken, there are just no guarantees that a lethal and tragic situation won’t develop at a moment’s notice. Invariably, when that happens ~ when a deputy or police officer falls in the line of duty ~ it never fails to leave an overwhelming sense of grief and loss in its wake that goes beyond words.

My heart goes out to the family, friends and colleagues of Grundy County Sheriff’s Deputy Shane Tate who was gunned down on June 5th while attempting to serve a warrant in Tracy City for probation violation. The suspect later turned the gun on himself. Two lives gone, two families destroyed. A senseless and absolutely tragic waste.

The death of 29-year-old  Deputy Tate was particularly heartbreaking because he left a young wife and five young children behind. He had been with the Grundy County Sheriff’s Office for three years and a patrol deputy for less than one. He had only just graduated from the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy two weeks before his death. Academy Director Brian Grisham described him as “a good young man, dedicated to his family.” He said Deputy Tate never failed to spend time with each of his children every night before he went to bed. In fact, every person in the Grundy community seems stunned and grief-stricken at the loss of this good young man.

During the course of our 172-year history here in Bradley County, we have taken casualties as well.  Sheriff Israel Smith was killed in 1922 while breaking up an illegal whiskey-making operation ; Dep. Taylor Caywood was killed in1932 while transporting a dangerous criminal from out of state; Dep. Kenneth Wright was killed in 1971 while serving a warrant; Cleveland City Police Officer Bud Cash was killed in 1955 while running emergency traffic; and Reserve Dep. Al McCollum died in 1989 during a rescue attempt.

I often write about revenues the BCSO brings into the county coffers. Before I go on the my chosen topic of technology as an aid to law enforcement, I want to briefly share with you the figures I have just received on jail revenues for March. The billing process takes a little time to complete, so the money has not arrived at this writing, but will be paid to Bradley County within a few weeks. Again, this just represents a single month’s revenue.
 
For the month of March, operations of the Bradley County jail netted over $290,000 for the General Fund. The Corrections Division generates revenue from a number of different sources and that revenue goes into the Bradley County General Fund; needless to say, this helps relieve the financial burden on taxpayers.
 
The Tennessee Department of Corrections reimbursed the county a total of $123,795 in March for housing State inmates. We are also contracted to house up to 100 non-violent Federal inmates on a daily basis. That reimbursement amount for March totaled $150,654.
 
The money generated by housing State inmates represents 42 percent of that March total of $293,076.67, while money generated by housing Federal inmates represents 49 percent of that total. The remaining nine percent was generated through the inmate phone system, the inmate commissary, the work release program, and the Sexual Offender Registry.
 
Quite often, the public focus is drawn only to the expenses of operating the Justice Center. I am glad to remind citizens that the jail also generates revenue. And, as far as the taxpayers are concerned, every dollar we earn is a dollar they save.

 There were interesting side-by-side editorials in last Sunday’s Chattanooga Times Free Press (5-25-08) that caught my eye because they both expressed something I have often talked about. That is, they touched on the primary function of government.

In one of the paper’s editorials, Tennessee governor, Phil Bredesen, was quoted as saying, “The purpose of government is to do things for the benefit of the citizens ...” Of course, I take the governor’s comment “... for the benefit of the citizens ...” to mean “for the benefit of the citizens who cannot reasonably provide that benefit for themselves,” such as law enforcement, national defense, roads, schools and so on. For example, I do not believe the government should be responsible for what people drive or wear, or whether they have a television or healthcare or even a job. Those are things citizens provide for themselves as members of a free society.

Noted professor and columnist Dr. Walter Williams was a bit more succinct in his column. He wrote, “If there is one clear basic function of government, it’s to protect citizens from criminals.” Again, I wouldn’t limit that to protection “from criminals,” but protection from any threat, foreign or domestic.

But, in spirit, I could not agree with these two gentlemen more. I have often stated my belief that the primary responsibility of any government is to protect its citizens. Dr. Williams defined it as the “one clear basic function of government,” I define it as “the primary responsibility of government,” and Gov. Bredesen defined it simply as “the purpose of government.” But we are all basically saying the same thing: First and foremost, government ~ whether local, state or federal ~ is charged with protecting the public safety. 

Over the last year-and-a-half, the BCSO has made tremendous strides in keeping pace with county growth while becoming a more effective and professional law enforcement agency in its fight against crime.

For instance, the BCSO has increased the number of deputies on patrol to two per zone. This allows us to be more effective in deterring crime and has helped us reduce our emergency response time by an average of two minutes. Two minutes may not sound like a lot, but in emergency situations it can literally be the difference between life and death. Also, having two deputies per zone allows for a more timely back-up to fellow deputies when needed. 

Since I became sheriff, the BCSO has reduced crime in a number of critical areas. We have reduced residential burglaries by 25 percent and doubled residential burglary arrests over last year. In fact, we have achieved a 47 percent clearance rate of all crime in Bradley County, which is approximately 17 percent above the national average. We also continue moving forward in our efforts to achieve national recognition through CALEA accreditation.
 
All these accomplishments were achieved by utilizing existing levels of manpower, managing resources more effectively and shifting top-heavy management positions to field assignments where they have proven more effective in serving the public. These efforts have also saved taxpayer money in reduced manpower costs.