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Over a four day period last week (Aug. 1-4), the BCSO Court Services and Fugitive Warrants Unit joined forces with the TBI, the U.S. Marshall’s Service, the U.S. Attorney and the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives to conduct a crack-down on outstanding warrants, code-named “Operation: Take Down.”
Operation: Take-Down successfully executed around 100 felony and misdemeanor warrants that had previously been undeliverable. These warrants included robbery, aggravated burglary, aggravated assault, drug possession, failure to pay child support and fugitive warrants. Needless to say, I am proud of the job this team of BCSO deputies and state and federal agents accomplished. Although the county’s backlog of unserved warrants still number in the neighborhood of 5,000 (with more being issued every day), this 100 warrant inroad was another step in clearing the logjam.
Upon taking office, I inherited a situation involving over 6,000 outstanding warrants. This and other problems won’t be resolved overnight, but I feel that through better management of departmental resources and greater cooperation with state and federal law enforcement agencies, progress will continue to be made. My thanks and congratulations go out to everyone involved in Operation: Take-Down ~ they all did a terrific job.
Secondly, I would also like to acknowledge the community’s support for this year’s National Night Out Against Crime. This very successful annual event which took place last Tuesday evening (8/7/07) was designed to focus attention on reducing crime through community involvement.
There were three main locations for National Night Out: the Senior Center on Urbane Road, Sammy and Mary Gooden’s home in the Dockery community, and Beacon Baptist Church. The festivities were well-attended and I enjoyed visiting each location and meeting so many of you one-on-one. There was live music, good food, horseback rides, air toys and much good fellowship. I especially enjoy these types of events because they’re always a good reminder of what a great community we live in and what terrific neighbors we have here in Cleveland/Bradley.
In addition to a lot of good fun, BCSO deputies were on-hand at Beacon Baptist to offer free fingerprinting for the kids. Fingerprinting has proven to be a valuable tool in safely and effectively resolving child abductions. As horrendous as it is to imagine a child being abducted from their home or perhaps taken by a non-custodial parent, it is a scenario that occurs much too often. Having a child’s fingerprints on file is an effective law enforcement tool. Children are not just our future, they’re also much more vulnerable than adults when it comes to these types of crimes. Anything the BCSO can do to protect our children and ensure their safety, we will do.
Thank you all for taking a night out against crime.
Lastly, I’d like to invite all Bradley County citizens to attend one of four town hall type meetings I will be holding over the next few weeks. This will be an opportunity to meet with you all and answer any questions you may have for me. There seems to be much discussion in the media lately about the BCSO and I feel the town hall format is perfect for folks to turn out and discuss whatever’s on their minds. Everyone is welcome to come out to any of these meetings, or come out to all of them. The sessions will be held on Thursday evening from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m., beginning this coming Thursday. The schedule is listed below. It will be informal and I look forward to seeing you all.
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