by Sheriff Tim Gobble
posted March 27, 2008
I would like to offer my congratulations to the 10th Judicial Drug Task Force, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month. The 10th District, which covers Bradley, Polk, McMinn and Monroe counties, operates under the guidance of a board of directors and District Attorney General R. Steven Bebb, and I am proud to serve on the DTF board along with other area sheriffs.
Our own BCSO drug unit has worked closely with the DTF and other area drug units over the years to effectively stem the flow of illegal narcotics into and through Bradley County, as well as the entire 10th District.
As a voting board member of the DTF, I recently joined with other board members in a decision to share some of the DTF drug proceeds among the nine district law enforcement member agencies that help support the DTF through annual fees and services. The BCSO is pleased to have received a one-time $50,000 grant from those DTF proceeds and we will put the money to good use in our own drug program. A ceremony was held at the Hampton Inn in Athens on Thursday (March 27, 2008) to dispense a total of $450,000 among the nine member agencies.
The DTF is the second largest multi-jurisdictional drug unit in Tennessee with 16 full-time agents. Typically, units like the DTF only have a life span of three to five years. For this unit to have operated, and operated so successfully, for 20 years is commendable.
The BCSO drug unit has enjoyed a close working relationship with many area drug units and we look forward to maintaining these relationships for many years to come. It is through these cooperative efforts that law enforcement is most effective and I will continue to advocate for this type of cooperation as long as I am sheriff.
Also, this week, I would like to extend my congratulations to BCSO Deputy Doug Towne, who traveled to Washington D.C. recently as part of a select team which participated in a focus group discussing the successful Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative (SS/HS) program in Bradley County.
I am pleased that Deputy Towne was chosen to participate in this conference, as he does a fine job as the School Resource Officer at Walker Valley High School and is an excellent representative of the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office. He spoke for the law enforcement aspect of the SS/HS Initiative and was definitely a positive addition to the team in Washington.
The group also consisted of Allen Nope of Bradley Co. Rehab Services, Leon Shahan of the Bradley Co. Juvenile Court Program and Dr. Rodney Fitzgerald and Matt Ryerson of the SS/HS Initiative. They were all selected based on demonstrated progress in achieving the principal objective of the SS/HS Initiative; which is, “implementing a comprehensive plan of coordinated policies, programs and services.”
The one-day conference was a basically a Q&A designed to address how the SS/HS Initiative has benefitted the Bradley community and the reasons behind that success. The main topics of discussion centered around the structure and process of successful integrative partnerships, unanticipated challenges and outcomes, and demographic and cultural considerations.
Dep. Towne credits the success of the SS/HS Initiative to the strong partnership of law enforcement, schools, mental health, the courts and other local agencies. These very important community components have greatly improved their communication by working together instead of separately. This has proven to be an effective and proactive method to promote greater cooperation in Bradley County.
The BCSO has always worked closely with the Bradley County schools and juvenile court to advance safety, drug awareness and the importance of education. The BCSO SRO program began in the ‘90s, and the SS/HS grant has strengthened and expanded that partnership through regular meetings, improved communication and the pooling of positive input from the community. The SS/HS grant runs out at the end of September, but hopefully the partnerships that have been developed through SS/HS can continue for the benefit of our students and our community.
Dep. Towne summed it up when he said, “It’s been an honor and a privilege to work with this coalition. As far as law enforcement goes, we gained a great deal of training from the SS/HS grant. We made many new friends and formed new partnerships that offer a definite benefit for the safety and well-being of all Bradley County students.”
For more information about Safe Schools/Safe Students Initiative, you can contact Matt Ryerson or Dr. Rodney Fitzgerald through the GRAAB Coalition: (423) 476-1160, ex. 109.
Matt is also executive director of the GRAAB Coalition (“Going Respectfully Against Addictive Behavior”). I have mentioned GRAAB before in this column and appreciate the good work they are doing to fight drug trafficking and abuse in our community. They have also been featured in our BCSO podcasts (which you can view at: www.bradleysheriff.com), and I am proud to serve on the GRAAB Coalition’s board.
Drug trafficking and abuse is a cancer in any community and the best way to combat it is through education and drug awareness, as well as building a proactive partnership between law enforcement and the community. Thanks again to Dep. Towne and everyone else who represented our community so well in Washington.
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