Sheriff`s Corner

Hello, and welcome to this week's Sheriff's Corner. I'd like to take the time this week to talk to you about a little law enforcement history and also about how we feel in regards to Law Enforcement in Levy County. If you remember, I talked about changes in law enforcement several weeks ago. I also mentioned how we are always thinking about change and the needs of you, our citizens.

So, this week, a little history. As you know, we employ the "Indianapolis Plan" in assigning our vehicle to our deputies and investigators. That means they take the vehicle home and have limited off duty use. The idea is that the more law enforcement vehicles out, the better the possibility for deterring a crime. An additional benefit is that the deputies are still expected to get involved with any crime they witness. So this is a good idea.

Next, historically, law enforcement has been looked upon as more of a reactive force rather than a active force or, better put, a proactive force. That is, we sit and wait for the call or complaint to come in and then we react. Well, we have always felt that that is a poor way to do business. The question then is to figure out how to be proactive in our efforts.

Some of the most obvious ways to be proactive is to patrol aggressively in neighborhoods and on our highways. Many criminals pass through our county every day on their way to do a crime or coming from doing a crime. Our job is to be out there in a position to detect and hopefully intercept their passage through our county. This is now and will continue to be one of our main focuses and objectives. We will be in our neighborhoods and looking for suspicious vehicles and persons. We will also always be on our highways looking for suspicious vehicles and activity.

Next week, I'll continue talking about the many areas of our agency that is proactive in serving you. Take care.