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Sheriff reports staffing gains and heavy call volume; committee presses to restart radio‑tower project
Summary
The sheriff’s report noted recent hiring successes, dispatch workload details and examples of critical medical calls; committee members said the planned radio tower project stalled with an unresponsive engineer and directed staff to re‑engage the project to improve portable radio coverage across the west side of the county.
The sheriff reported recent personnel progress: one deputy had accepted a job offer pending physical and psychological clearances; two dispatch positions had accepted offers and were awaiting screenings; and a jail position was in process. He said the office had one recent recruit graduate from the academy and described training and tuition support available from the state.
The sheriff and staff read call statistics for a roughly 30‑day period (December 22–January 27): the department reported roughly 10 crashes, 64 citations with 67 charges, 18 warnings, 54 inmates booked and released in 30 days, 1,118 complaint cards entered and 85 reportable incidents (including 57 adult arrests and several domestic incidents). Staff also recounted two time‑sensitive medical calls that resulted in life‑saving interventions and rapid transport to Vanderbilt in Nashville.
On communications infrastructure, staff reported the radio tower project has stalled. An engineer hired in September/October had not advanced the project and had not returned calls; committee members said they may need a new engineer and urged resuming the project because portable radios in parts of the west side of the county lose contact with the cars when officers move beyond a short distance. Committee members noted roughly 20 instances in the prior month of portable radio coverage failures in outlying areas and said the new tower is needed to improve coverage.
Ending: The committee asked staff to re‑engage engineering support and move the radio tower project forward ahead of the next budget cycle so the capital project can be included in planning.
