DEPUTIES MUST BY THEIR OWN GUNS ........................
Date Posted:11/9/06
Article compliments of Alice DuPont of the Gadsden County Times 10/06/06.

The budget has been passed and Gadsden County Sheriff Morris Young said that while a small increase in his budget will allow him to give bonuses and small raises (four percent) will help, it is not nearly enough. I am disappointed. I wanted three million dollars, he said. Young knew early on, however, that he wasnt going to get that this year. Young said he isn't sure what course of action he will take, but he is determined to get the money for officers and other needs. His officers, he said, are working because they love Gadsden County and want to protect the people here. They are doing a fantastic job, too. I can't say enough about the commitment these officers have, Young said, clearly passionate about the officers he leads. He said he is undermanned and that officers work 12-hour shifts. The county is divided into four zones and one deputy covers an entire zone, alone. The Town of Havana has been nice, but they have grown tired of backing up the deputy who must cover unincorporated Havana, Coonbottom to Highway 12 along Post Plant Road, he said. Another zone covers unincorporated Chattahoochee, parts of Greensboro and Gretna. It is not unusual for a deputy to put 200 miles on a patrol car in a single 12- hour shift. In all reality I need more deputies, but I need to be able to pay people. We have veterans who have never gotten more than a three percent raise, he said.

What would he do with the money? The first thing I would do is take care of my officers. A lot of people don't know this but the deputies have to buy their own guns and the other tools they use. It cost each officer between $800 and $1,000 for the belt and the things that go with it. We will provide them with bullets, he said, shaking his head. Not one bullet-proof vests has been purchased in eight years. There are two drug investigators and four property investigators for the entire county. We're making it work because they (officers) are putting out, he said. Those that leave the department tell me it's because of money. I know how they feel. I was a deputy getting the low pay. That's one of the reasons I ran for sheriff, so that I could get them the money they deserve. Young said he has tried, since taking office, to save the taxpayers money. We've saved on vendors. We had to go to state vendors instead of local vendors; we've saved on medical costs, he said. No matter how stretched his department is, Young said, deputies or investigators answer all calls. Including calls from Interstate 10. The citizens dont realize this but there are at least 20,000 people coming through our county each day, that's almost half of our county's population, and some of those folk have needs we must answer.

This is an amendment to the above article compliments of Alice Dupont of the Gadsden County Times. Sheriff Young announced on Monday October 23rd, 2006 that he would make a sacrifice and give employees who were employed with the Gadsden County Sheriff's Office for 6 months or more a 7 percent pay increase this year. Sheriff Young also extended a $1000 bonus, across the board, to employees of the Gadsden County Sheriff's Office.