Sheriff’s department doing admirable job
The Warren County Sheriff’s Department deserves wholehearted praise after receiving a glowing review from the TBI in its latest report on crime.
Among counties our size, there wasn’t a sheriff’s department better at catching criminals than Warren County’s. That’s in the entire state of Tennessee.
The TBI report revealed our local sheriff’s department solved 55.4 percent of all reported crimes during 2002. Only four counties in the state – all much smaller than ours – solved a higher percentage of crimes.
That’s a fact we can take pride in knowing. It’s certainly indicative of the job Sheriff Jackie Matheny and his deputies perform each and every day. They are tough on crime and tough on criminals. That’s exactly what we expect – and receive – from our sheriff’s department.
Said Matheny, “We just work hard and I can’t give our employees enough credit for what they do every day.”
This comes despite working in what could be called miserable conditions at Warren County Jail. Inmates are crammed to double capacity in some cells and a much-needed jail addition is finally under way.
The high marks come despite the fact our officers aren’t paid nearly what they’re worth. These are people who never know when they could be thrust into a position where their lives are on the line.
Deputies frequently leave for greener, and better paying, pastures in other counties. Yet our sheriff’s department continues to make the most with what it’s provided, often fighting the Warren County Commission every step of the way for adequate funding.
This week’s county commission meeting was a perfect example of what the sheriff’s department faces on a recurring basis. Commissioners voted to cut an already bare-bones budget by $178,000 – a vote which didn’t leave too many happy campers on Security Circle.
What makes the TBI report even more remarkable is the volume of crime in which local officers encounter. Warren County was on the upper end of the spectrum when it came to overall crime – and the county was especially high in drug arrests and juvenile arrests.
Those are certainly unfortunate statistics. While we want our county to rank highly when it comes to jobs, education and quality of life, we don’t want top honors when it comes to drugs and juvenile delinquents.
Matheny points to the increasing meth problem here as one reason our drug arrests are so high. It’s not as easy, however, to pinpoint why our juvenile arrests are so high and law officers have wondered about possible ways to lower that number.
While reducing juvenile crime may be a project with no easy answers, we can at least take consolation from the fact our sheriff’s department is doing its best to catch criminals once they break the law. Based on the TBI as a measuring stick, they are doing a tremendous job.