TAKING A BREATHER … Deputies, dispatchers, and other staff of the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office and their significant others enjoy food and fellowship during the department’s annual appreciation dinner.
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office took a little time to recognize its own last week at its annual appreciation dinner.
Sheriff Roy Miller said the dinner is “just a time for us to get together and have fellowship,” as well as to take a moment to share in the achievements from throughout the year where someone has gone above and beyond.
“If it’s saving a life or finding missing children, just going a little bit farther than most people will. And that’s including dispatchers and our deputies here,” Miller said.
The sheriff shared a pair of examples, both of which involved the Flock license plate reader camera system and quick-witted FCSO personnel.
Miller first referred to an incident where a child was abducted from a local mobile home park. Any information on the vehicle was sketchy at best.
“Our dispatcher took it upon themselves to watch the Flock cameras and all we had was ‘[it’s] a black pickup,’ and found the black pickup. And [the Toledo Police Department) was able to intercept the vehicle and get the kid back,” he said.
The second situation also involved the successful interception of a child abductor, this time from Cleveland.
“We got a Flock hit, deputies and officers got him stopped in between Delta and Swanton,” Miller said. “It came to a peaceful resolution – he’s still in jail and the child’s safe and back at home.”
According to Miller, the concerns surrounding law enforcement operated cameras like the Flock cameras are overblown.
“We’ve had them for many years, and they’ve done wonders,” Miller said. “I know a lot of people think the government is watching them but that’s not what we’re using them for.”
“We’ve found missing people, we’ve found stolen vehicles, we’ve found missing children. That’s what it’s all about.”
During the dinner, people are recognized for safe driving and years of service. Theuty and dispatcher of the Year awards are also announced, with the winners selected through a vote by their peers.
They also review what they learned from the past year, like traffic crash statistics and the number of accidents handled, papers served, and arrests.
“We do a reverse raffle; we do a 50-50 raffle. Any of the money we have, we spend it on charities throughout the year,” Miller said. “Or if a deputy has babies, we buy them a baby gift, and we buy flowers for funerals.”
He said events like the dinner where they could all come together outside of work and with the people in their lives who support them are important. That those people know they’re not forgotten in the swell of emotions from the job.
“There’s a lot of stress and anger. The divorce rates are high in these jobs,” Miller said. “We tend to keep things bottled up inside us, but the significant others, whoever that may be, they’re the ones at home that are suffering, because we shut down when we get home. We don’t want to talk about it.”