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By Carey King
Sylva's police department came under question Jan. 8 as officers
met with town leaders to discuss department policies and citizens'
concerns regarding police behavior.
While town board members Maurice Moody, Eldridge Painter and Anne
Cabe said they'd had no significant complaints from constituents
about the department, fellow leaders Danny Allen and Ray Lewis
both said they'd heard concerns.
"I've had complaints about police not being police,"
said Allen, a former police officer. "To me, police should
be friendly, but I've had complaints that the police are not there
for the people when they're needed."
"(The public doesn't) see them coming in and out their businesses,"
said Lewis, also a former officer. "They don't stop in and
talk. (The public) never sees them unless they call them."
When Moody asked Allen to "name names" of the officers
he'd had complaints about, Allen refused, saying he'd been asked
not to by those with concerns, and that he felt the problems needed
to be addressed by the entire department.
"Then you can't fix the problem. A complaint that doesn't
name anybody is not a complaint," said Moody, who's chaired
Sylva's public safety committee for the past six years.
"I'd like to know where these complaints are coming from.
I'm confused. These folks work ungodly hours and do a service
I know I wouldn't get out and do," committee member Painter
said.
Jeff Jamison, chief of police, responded by saying he expects
all officers to be friendly and courteous with the public, but
that he currently lacks the resources to implement community policing
or a community watch.
Assistant Chief Tammy Hooper is in charge of those community programs,
but it's impossible for her to develop those initiatives and hold
down a shift at the same time, Jamison said.
He asked town board members to consider creating a full-time position
from two part-time positions currently open in the department,
which would add an additional officer and give Hooper time for
community program development. That request will be presented
formally at the town board's February meeting, Jamison said.
Mayor Brenda Oliver questioned Jamison about the town's mutual
assistance policy, which allows Sylva officers to help county
law enforcement in cases where the county lacks resources to deal
with a threat to life or property.
Sylva officers must return to town jurisdiction as soon as the
emergency situation is rectified, and in non-emergency cases,
may only aid the county when a ranking officer approves, states
department policy.
Concerned that a county emergency may leave the town uncovered,
Lewis said that he doesn't think town officers should respond
to the county's minor or domestic calls.
Jamison responded that officers provide mutual assistance only
in nearby locales, not to areas as far away as Cashiers, though
there are no specific guidelines on the distance officers should
travel.
One new stress on the department will soon be the relocation of
Smoky Mountain Mental Health from Harris Regional Hospital to
the former Autumn Care facility in Haywood County. As a result,
Sylva officers will have to leave town limits to accompany involuntarily-committed
town residents to Balsam, Jamison said.
It's too dangerous to allow officers to respond to domestic calls
alone, so the town sometimes has to provide the county with backup,
Jamison said.
When the mayor brought up the policy of off-duty officers keeping
police cars, Jamison said the only officers allowed to have their
cars with them at all times are those on-call 24 hours a day - the
chief, assistant chief and two detectives.
Allen questioned the cost-effectiveness of that situation, to
which Jamison responded that those officers were called out 25
times last year, at the expense of $100 a month. The delay of
going to the police station to get a police car before responding
to a crime can waste important time, Jamison said.
According to department policy, officers moonlighting at extra-duty
jobs such as traffic control or security assignments can use town-owned
vehicles if they have approval of the police chief.
"If (an officer) is moonlighting as a carpenter, they wouldn't
use a police car. If they're moonlighting as a security officer,
then I think he would," Moody said.
Because the town board and police met in work session, no formal
decisions were made, but Oliver asked both groups to "keep
lines of communication open" so concerns can continue to
be addressed.
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