At the Aug. 5 Chamber Connection Luncheon, Russell Bedsole, Jail Commander with the Shelby County Jail, spoke in place of Sheriff John Samaniego, who was not able to attend.
He addressed two main topics -- the relationships between citizens and the sheriff’s office and the accomplishments of the office since Samaniego became sheriff.
“Why is it important that we hear from our law enforcement professionals? As the chamber, community leaders and business leaders, why is it so important?” Bedsole asked.
His answer centered on two words, “our mission.”
The sheriff’s office and the chamber have similar mission statements, the common theme ipartnership.
The annual event shares the mission of the sheriff’s office, calling on them to partner with their citizens, business owners and civic organizations, just as the chamber seeks those partnerships, Bedsole said.
“Your sheriff and all the employees in the sheriff’s office believe that only through partnerships can we be professional.” Bedsole said. “The men and women of the sheriff’s office do not simply see the words as words on a page, but our professionals live this out every single day.”
Shelby County has 139 deputies patrolling the streets, 71 jail deputies, and 19 support staff personnel who are working to give citizens real, high quality public service.
Bedsole acknowledged how none of them could do their jobs without a good team and the partnerships of the men and women in the room, quoting American businessman Andrew Scholz: “When you’re surrounded by people who share a passionate commitment around a common purpose, anything is possible.”
The list of accomplishments Bedsole gave from Sheriff Samaniego’s time in office so far is a long one.
Since his election, the Shelby County Sheriff’s office has become the first office in the state to become accredited through the Commission of Accreditation of Law Enforcement (CALEA). He implemented crisis intervention training, a week-long class to help deputies deal with people in a mental health crisis, for all patrol deputies and jail deputies.
Within the jail, the staff earned a perfect score in their first attempt to receive accreditation, and then another perfect score this year. They created a critical care team which includes Bedsole, his lead classification officer, the nurse supervisor, and someone appointed by mental health with a goal to assemble the best mental and medical health care possible for the inmates experiencing the most issues.
An electronic medical records system was implemented “to maintain continuity of care for everyone in our facility,” Bedsole said. Their doctor can now pull up records and offer treatment from anywhere outside the office.
On patrol in the streets, the deputies have responded to over 564,000 calls in Samaniego’s time as sheriff. He revived the aviation unit to continue this patrol leverage, which has helped patrol with the colonial pipeline explosion, tornado damage assessment, hazmat incidents from a railroad accident, wildfire damage assessment, search warrant assistance, missing person searches, and even traffic flow.
On top of all of the work Samaniego has done, Bedsole emphasized how much his creation of the community outreach unit has increased community policing to a whole new level.
“Constant engagement in person and by social media has strengthened the bonds with the citizens like no other time in our history.”
