Joseph Jones continues to bolster his sheriff’s office.
Three detention center trainees – Dakota Crisp, Randy Price and Jordan Rogers – completed the 209 credit-hour N.C. Detention Certification class at Southwestern Community College in Sylva on Nov. 1. Jones said the classes offer a deeper curriculum than others and the benefits are two-fold.
“The state has changed the standards; now, you have one year from the start date to have somebody certified,” Jones said. “You used to be able to apply for a six-month extension if necessary, but now they will send you a cease-and-desist letter. It makes it hard on small departments; if you have a 15-man roster and you send three people to school, you’re short-staffed.
“I think Southwestern has a better program; they put a little more into it. People have to be professional; if there’s a certified officer in the hallway, they have to stand at attention and be very respectful.
“It’s going to really help; it will give my people more freedom to do transports – which has picked up tremendously in the last six, eight months – and it helps keep people in the jail, working.”
Ahead of the game
Detention officers were on their toes Nov. 7, when controlled substances were stopped before entering the Graham County Jail in Robbinsville.
Names of those involved are not being released, but Jones said during a supply drop-off for an inmate, a detox drug known as Suboxone Film strips were almost smuggled into the jail. The person responsible for the drop-off left before the discovery.
“It’s a recovery drug, but it’s abused, just like everything else,” Jones said. “Through verification, we found that the inmate had requested it in a nonchalant matter. He was locked down in a cell by himself, and his privileges were stripped. We’re going to move him out and send him somewhere else.
“My folks did a good job of catching it.”