Someone send the sheriff a box of Kleenex

In a story from yesterday's Log Cabin Rachel Parker says members of the administrative staff of the Faulkner County Sheriff's Office took offense at comments made after an emergency meeting of the finance committee last month.

Last November the committee gave the department an additional $86,000 appropriation that was to correct the overspending on monies from several line item categories so the department could make it to the end of the year. At that meeting Chief Deputy Wallace 'took offense' at people questioning their expenditures by people who really didn't understand what they do.

Now the department is offended by comments made by the JPs who are in charge of appropriating county funds and had to once again dish out money for negative line items. It's kind of like a parent giving their child money to help them make a car payment only to later find out the child had spent it on 'other things'. Now if you were that parent wouldn't you want to know why the car payment wasn't made?

For anyone who works at a department that is guilty of thousands of dollars in misspent money, in 2004, and that can't balance its budget, in 2005, to take offense is simply laughable. Someone please send the sheriff's office a box of Kleenex, they need to dry their eyes. They should probably open them too and take a good look around, people aren't buying it.

As JP Blankenship says, "The question was the oversight and controls and accountability. We tried to impress upon all the officials to be very frugal so we would have money for raises. There is no frugality in that department. We want them to live within a budget, not just spend and ask for more."

Speaking of raises, Sgt. Jason Bell, who was involved in that deadly shooting, gave his account of the incident that left one man dead. In his comments he notes that the city of Oppelo just started a police department with a salary that is higher than his and he has been at the department for almost nine years. He adds that a Sergeant at the Vilonia Police Department makes about $9,000 more a year.

Sgt. Bell and Deputy Martin were cleared of any wrong doing in the shooting by the way. Check out his comments about the shooing here, Conflicting reports. We think these officers and the other deputies who work to keep this county safe need to be fairly compensated for their work. But what these deputies need to understand is that it is the administration's fault for their lack of raises.

Too much money has been spent for the sheriff's "Great North American Road Trip" and other useless trips that do nothing more that further the career of the Sheriff. Also too much money has been misspent by this administration for personal items and/or gain. The administration has a duty first to the public and then to its officers, self has no place in this picture at all.

And lastly, we think the sheriff and his administration should know that the public takes offense at a department who spends our tax dollars on trips and meals for friends and family members, we take offense at a department who spends our tax dollars for personal items such as tuition payments and everything from diapers to liquor, and we take offense at a department that can't balance their books.