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Commission Approves BCSO Fund
11/03/09 - 05:46 PM
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The Bay County Sheriff’s Office has approval from the county commission to continue funding crime prevention throughout the county. But the felons, not taxpayers, help to clean up their own messes.

This morning the county commission consented for the sheriff’s office to continue using money gathered from felonies and misdemeanors to give back to the people of Bay County.  The amount from year to year varies, but this year is around $200,000.

But these crime prevention programs are not your every day law enforcement, according to Deputy Larry Grainger :”Honestly I think I have the best job at the Bay County Sheriff’s Office.

Grainger is a deputy at the Southport substation.  He loves his job because he gets to immerse himself in the community:  “not only do I have to deal with the bad stuff, I get to deal with the good stuff.”

...good stuff like answering questions and hosting movie nights at the substation.  Grainger gets to know the Southport community, and that includes its troublemakers. Deputies teach residents how to keep their homes secure. Chief Deputy J.B. Holloway, Jr. explains that “The training that we give those neighborhoods and the teaching of crime prevention, how to keep your house locked, how to keep your house secure to prevent burglaries…”

All this is funded through money collected from felonies and misdemeanor arrests: “We kind of have the bad guy paying for us to do this,” says Holloway

This program has been in existence for the past three years, and the commission’s approval of its continuation for the next year ensures that the other substations in FKountain and the west end of the beach will continue serving their communities.

Grainger thinks that :”People want to know their local law enforcement. They really do. They want to know you on a personal basis that way if they do have a problem they know they’re talking to a friend rather than just some guy who shows up in a green and white car.”

This sheriff’s fund is like a general fund. The sheriff can decide each year what he wants to spend the money on. This year it’s going to focus on crime prevention programs and neighborhood safety.