ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, July 17, 1996 TAG: 9607170048
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
MEMO: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.
Two federally funded sheriff's office positions ran into a brick wall Tuesday in Franklin County.
The county Board of Supervisors - on a 5-2 vote - nixed a Sheriff's Office request to approve the positions, administered through the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.
The initiative is also known as "Cops Fast" - an effort promoted by President Clinton to put more police officers on the streets to reduce crime across America.
Sheriff W.Q. "Quint" Overton, who spoke to the board before the vote, said afterward that the supervisors voted against the request simply because they don't like him.
"The people of Franklin County are the ones who are losing out," he said. "I hope the board understands that."
There is no doubt that relations between Overton and several supervisors are chilly.
"I know Quint would like to have an officer at every intersection," said board member Don Riddle.
He went on to say that he feels the sheriff's office is adequately staffed now.
The sheriff's office needs additional help, Overton said, because the state compensation board does not include the seasonal population at Smith Mountain Lake as part of its funding formula, which breaks down to one road deputy for every 2,000 people.
Franklin County has 21 deputies, but the county's population during the summer merits more employees, he said.
"It's nice to know that the board thinks we've got plenty of police officers," said Commonwealth's Attorney Cliff Hapgood, who came to the program's defense Tuesday.
Other supervisors said the Cops Fast program amounts to a federal mandate, requiring localities to continue to fund positions after three years.
Overton provided a letter to the board from a lawyer with the U.S. Justice Department who said localities would not be penalized for dropping the positions if there were fiscal problems or other difficulties beyond their control. Under normal circumstances, localities are supposed to pick up the rest of the tab after three years.
But the wording of the letter wasn't strong enough for Supervisors' Chairman Wayne Angell, who said it left doubts about the commitment a locality would be expected to uphold.
Angell suggested that the county should consider funding one new position itself, as an alternative to the federal program.
Under Cops Fast, the federal government pays 75 percent of the cost and localities pay 25 percent.
The county is funding one Cops Fast position that was filled last year and approved by a board that included three members who weren't re-elected last November.
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