Sheriff Kevin Sproul Looks Back at 2014
Monday, January 5th, 2015
2014 was a great year for the Dougherty County Sheriff’s Office. We had the opportunity to continue to promote one of our initiatives with the airing of another episode of “Beyond Scared Straight” on the A&E network. Arnold Shapiro Productions graciously continues to allow us to showcase one of the programs that we use to help the youth of our community. I would also like to take this opportunity to highlight some of the other initiatives that the Sheriff’s Office undertook during 2014 to serve you and keep you safe.
Our deputies on the road were busy in 2014. Altogether, the Sheriff’s Office served roughly 8,000 criminal warrants and 21,000 civil papers. Deputies also conducted over 1,000 evictions, assisted hundreds of motorists, conducted nearly 500 escorts and completed about 20,000 security checks of homes, churches, and businesses.
We were very busy at the Judicial Building as well. More than 130,000 visitors came into the Judicial Building during 2014, from which about 2,500 items of contraband were taken. Just over 1,700 people were booked at the Sheriff’s Office or fingerprinted for other reasons, such as for background checks or firearms permit applications. We processed over 3,100 bonds and nearly 3,800 traffic citations.
The courtrooms were busy, both at the Judicial Building and at the jail. We provided deputies and bailiffs to maintain security during more than 18,000 court proceedings at the Judicial Building and 14,000 at the jail.
Our investigation unit was short-staffed part of the year, but still managed to handle over 400 new cases. More than 260 sex offenders were registered or re-registered, bringing the total number of managed sex offenders to 346. Our AFIS unit examined nearly 14,000 latent fingerprints and 4,000 pieces of evidence, making over 400 identifications and generating more than 1,200 forensic reports.
The jail was jumping as well, processing 9,100 people into and out of jail. We also conducted over 5,000 EMIT (urine) tests and over 5,000 background checks.
During this time, our staff maintained a high level of training, receiving mandatory instruction in firearms, defensive tactics, use of force, CPR & first aid, legal updates and other classes. In all, our training division provided more than 800 hours of current, relevant training. Many other agencies took advantage of the opportunity and attended training sessions offered by our Training Division.
Although the “Beyond Scared Straight” program received the most attention, the Sheriff’s Office has been busy on many fronts. Even in the area of youth intervention, we conducted nearly 150 interventions that were not televised, taught character education classes in local schools and spoke at dozens of events throughout the year.
Yes, 2014 was a good year. We were very busy and productive, and look forward to another good year ahead. If you have any concerns or would like more information about the mission and efforts of the Dougherty County Sheriff’s Office, please feel free to contact us at (229) 430-6508 or (229) 431-3259. You may also contact us at www.doughertysheriff.com or at our Facebook page.
