Technology has arrived for the better treatment of Substance Use Disorder. Through the funding opportunity with Fellowship House Birmingham’s Building Bridges Initiative grant, the Walker County Jail received two 75” smart board monitors and two iMac computers for tele-health, tele-therapy and legal proceeding enhancements.
 
The large size may seem a bit much but by splitting their locations into two venues we can greatly enhance the group sizes of some of our therapy sessions. Our current resources limit our group sizes and the inclusion of new single station tele-conference equipment will allow for greater numbers of inmates to receive therapy services from not only Fellowship house but other resource agencies.
 
These resources are invaluable for those incarcerated, because it expands our current capabilities, and looks to the future by growing the opportunity for inmates to have access to therapy, learning, and self-betterment programs via video conferencing. With these new resources, we can support more people, more types of counseling, more types of courses, and more impactful measures to help for our inmates. We approach incarceration from a rehabilitation, not punitive perspective, and continue to make strides daily to give inmates a chance to flourish into productive members of society.  

Below are the spending reports for the law enforcement fund, jail fund, and inmate medical funds for the month of August. You can view prior month's reports under the WCSO spending tab on our website.

August Totals:
LE Fund: $285,656
Jail Fund: $171,929
Inmate Medical: $78,095

Since 2019, our office has expanded both community programs, and community involvement. From Frog Fest, to Foothills Festival, you’ll see someone there with a tent with the star on it, and a smiling face in tan and green.
 
Today is no different! Sheriff Smith, Deputy Brandon Pugh, several of our office staff, and members of the Explorer Post are out at Hillfest in Carbon Hill. Be sure to stop by, say hello, and grab a few trinkets and things. We caution visitors because a certain sheriff, who we will not name, will be present, and does have a selfie quota, at least in his mind.
 
Don’t be shy and come say hello out at our tent at Hillfest today!

Inmate litter crews once again work under the Friday Nights to keep our facilities clean. We’re glad to offer an opportunity for our inmates to give back to the community. These inmates volunteer for this program, and enjoy the time doing something as simple as enjoying a football game.
 
The Friday night clean up crew is an extension of our clean roads program, and is overseen by our correctional officers. This program works throughout our county to clean up roads, and illicit dump sites. Since 2019, we’ve collected over 3,000 bags of litter, and presented nearly $1,000 to charitable organizations from the recyclables gathered.
 
We continue to find ways to improve quality of life for our citizens, and being able to enjoy the beauty of Walker County is always a treat. By removing trash and debris from the roads, we get to enjoy the rolling hills, creeks, and valleys just a little bit more. Remember, don’t litter, and do your part to keep our county beautiful.

After the recent Curry bomb threat, a student was charged in the juvenile courts with making terrorist threats first degree and interference with public safety communication. I appreciate our SROs, deputies, state troopers, and all first responders that helped resolve this situation quickly and safely.

A bomb threat was called in to Curry High School through 911 today around 3PM. Our bomb threat protocols were initiated and after a quick response and investigation, we narrowed down where the call came from and who made it.
 
Investigators began to attempt to locate the suspect. We will immediately begin the process of filing charges with the DA’s office for making terroristic threats.
 
It has been determined that there was no actual presence of a bomb in the school, and we would like to thank the assistance of all law enforcement and first responders on scene to secure and ensure the safety of our children.

Today, once again, threats to our schools began circulating. After deploying most of our deputy resources to each school in the county for added security, we received information from ALEA that the same threats were circulating statewide and weren’t exclusive to Walker County. And while that may be true, we take every threat to our school, substantiated or not, extremely serious because that is what our students and teachers deserve. I’m a firm believer in “if you stay prepared you won’t have to waste time getting prepared” and that is how we approach our SRO program.
 
So, you will see an increased deputy presence at our schools today, even though these current threats aren’t believed to be legitimate. That presence will remain until we, and the board of education, feel it is time to return to normal operations. I understand this may cause panic or concern among parents. As a parent myself, I understand those feelings, but your children are safe and aren’t in and danger. I caution everyone to not buy into every crazy story you may see on social media. When things like this happen, they seem to take on a mind of their own in people’s imaginations, so keep your eyes out for confirmed and validated information.
 
I know these situations have seemed to increase recently, and that is as frustrating for my office and the board of education, as it is for parents and students. We have already made one arrest in relation to recent schools threats, and are currently investigating others with expected arrests coming soon in those situations as well. Tracking down cyber-crimes may take a little longer than we’d like, but it’s just a matter of time until the people responsible are tracked down.
 
Students and parents both need to understand that we take these threats seriously and we will charge anyone responsible for threats against our schools. Parents, if a student is made aware of a threat to a school, remind them to make the Sheriff’s Office or the board of education aware as soon as possible. Don’t make posts on social media or send pictures through Snapchat. Not only does that not help us address those threats quickly, but it may implicate your child in a crime.

This past week has been very active out in the county. Our patrol deputies answered a total of 436 calls, up from 429 in the week prior. That is an average of 32 calls per shift, with each deputy answering an average of 8 calls per shift. Those calls range from simple report calls to felony arrests, and much more.
 
Deputies also regularly enforce traffic code, via traffic stops. These stops are deputy initiated after observing a moving, equipment, or other violation by a vehicle. Many of these stops end with a warning, whether written or verbal.  In select stops, the driver is issued a citation, and even more rarely is a person arrested from one of these stops. This past week, 10% of all traffic stops ended with an arrest, or 1 out of every 10 stops. This week, due to excessive rainfall, drivers slowed down, and that resulted in a 33% decline in stops this week. This is a great sign, showing that fewer violations were committed, and drivers were more cautious due to hazardous road conditions.
 
Lastly, we want to thank the community for your support. We could not do what we do without the support of our citizens. We care about fostering positive community relationships, and seek to actively involve our citizens at every opportunity. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you, and we look forward to what the future holds.