The Anderson County Sheriff's Department has had modest staffing increases in the last decade or so and significant increases in arrests starting in 2007, particularly burglary and theft arrests. (Chart submitted by Sheriff's Department)
The number of arrests per year in Anderson County has more than doubled since 2005, according to a recent presentation by the Sheriff’s Department.
There have been significant increases in burglary and theft arrests, as well as arrests for drug crimes.
Total arrests have risen from roughly 1,100 or fewer in 2006 and earlier years to more than 2,000 per year from 2008 to 2010.
Drug crime arrests have increased from 88 in 2006 to 336 in 2010.
And burglary and theft arrests are up to about 100 to 140 per year, up from a range of roughly 30 to 40 from 2001 to 2005.
The numbers spiked after Sheriff Paul White was elected to his first four-year term in August 2006.
Anderson County Crime Prevention Officer David Massengill said cracking down on burglaries, thefts, and drug crimes helps reduce the overall crime rate.
“The harder we concentrate on those components, the more successful we’re going to be,” he said.
Massengill said the Sheriff’s Department has been focused on “proactive policing with a great emphasis on crime prevention.”
“That has paid off,” he said. “We can see it in the results.”
Proactive policing sends officers out on patrols in the county’s four zones, Massengill said. They keep up with what’s happening in the community, make traffic stops, investigate suspicious activities, and ensure timely follow-ups to calls for service.
“Proactive policing is much less troublesome than cleaning up the aftermath,” Massengill said.
Citizen involvement and the use of new technologies have also been crucial.
“The great results that we discussed would not have been possible without citizens having the confidence that we will address their concerns, and working closely with us,” he said.
All of the work is dependent upon resources, however. If the department has to reverse direction and pull resources from where they’re currently assigned, there could be a decline in the results, Massengill said.
There have been suggestions that the department could use some of its existing employees to help staff a new 128-bed minimum-security dormitory that could open in June. That’s an idea that could be considered by Anderson County Commission members as they consider the budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
White has asked for an extra $2 million in his budget, with about one-quarter of the money to be used for 15 jailers at the dormitory.
So far, Anderson County commissioners haven’t shown much support for White’s request, and Mayor Myron Iwanski said the sheriff’s budget has already doubled during the past six years.
But Massengill said the Sheriff’s Department can’t consider moving officers from patrol and investigation assignments to jail staffing.
“That’s going to be reversing course,” he said.
There is a public hearing on the budget at 6 p.m. Thursday in Room 312 of the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton.
Massengill said modest increases in the Sheriff’s Department staff have paid off.
“The philosophy has been to have enough personnel that we can answer the calls for service,” he said.
The Sheriff’s Department had a crime prevention meeting with Neighborhood Watch groups in east Anderson County last week. That meeting followed a similar one in Claxton in March.
Massengill said those interested in participating or forming a Neighborhood Watch group can contact the Crime Prevention Unit through the Sheriff’s Department’s website at http://www.tnacso.net/cp.php or call him at (865) 457-6269, ext. 1150.
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