Gilchrist County Sheriff's Office

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has released the 2007 Uniform Crime Report (UCR). I am glad to report that once again violent crime in Gilchrist County has decreased, this past year by 28.9%. This is the fifth straight year that we have reduced the crime index within Gilchrist County. We could not have done this without all the help and calls from you, the citizens of Gilchrist County.

It is quickly approaching that time of year for budget submissions again. With the property tax reduction, increase in population, 15% increase in utilities, undetermined fuel costs, 7% insurance and other increasing items it is hard to imagine that we can comply with the request of the Board of Commissioners by cutting our budget overall by 5%, but we'll try.

Another question that has arisen from the political arena; "Is why Bell cannot have their own deputy assigned to their zone?" In order to better understand this issue one must realize that the Sheriff's Office only has fifteen patrol deputies (12 road patrol & 3 Sergeants) to patrol the entire county (344 sq. miles) on a 24 hr a day/ 7 day a week basis. As Sheriff I must ensure that all calls/complaints are being handled in a timely manner. As an administrative tool the county is broken down into 7 zones and periodic review of the number of calls within each zone is examined and analyzed. The Bell area encompasses from the Suwannee River (west) to SR47 (east) and from CR340 (north) to CR232 (south); a rather large section of the county. In 2007 we responded to a total of 17,750 calls for the entire county of which only 2,418 came from the Bell area (3rd from the lowest in ranking). Therefore as you may see our priorities must be to the largest service areas. Also you must keep in mind that a school resource deputy is stationed daily (M-F) at the school in Bell and can respond to any major incidents in that area.

Also along these lines; I have been questioned about setting up substations (as some politicians would lead you to agree). With less than the national average of 1 deputy per 1000 population (3 more deputies would be needed), it would be ludicrous to have a deputy sitting at a substation. It may sound good, but the majority of the citizens that I have talked with would rather see them on patrol, driving down their roads and providing some semblance of prevention and alertness to activities in and around their home sites. I would certainly encourage everyone that has a concern for law enforcement protection to attend the upcoming budget workshops to help establish your priorities, especially when it comes to the safety & security of your family.

We learned this month that at some point the County Commission and staff made the decision to postpone any further discussion regarding the need and construction of a new jail until 2010. In the mean time we continue to operate at near capacity and are housing inmates at the Levy County Jail and still paying Dixie County to house our overflow, not to mention the loss of housing federal inmates to help recoup operating expenses.

Our school resource deputies have been diligent in working with our third and fourth graders at both schools and distributing internet safety activity books to all. I want to personally thank each and every business that contributed and purchased ads for the Drug Abuse Education program, a partnership between the schools and the Sheriff's Office. The materials were due to come in back at the first of the school but we have just received the shipment. The resource deputies are diligently reaching out to our middle school students to provide drug abuse prevention through education. Materials are not only being provided to the students but also sent home to the parents coupled with materials being placed in some of our businesses. Another booklet being provided is entitled "Safe & Secure" which contains educational and prevention information on such topics as child abuse, internet protection, identity theft and other invaluable tips. If you do not receive one feel free to stop by and pick up a copy.

Once again I would urge each of you to take an active role in your community and help us serve you better by; "SEE IT, HEAR IT, REPORT IT!" Thank you for all your help and assistance!

Sheriff Turner

*A reminder that both libraries have our latest copy of our Annual Report complete with demographics and statistics.

Updated April 8, 2008