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Dear Editor:

I have sat back and listened to the vocal minority of Blount County too long. Having been here all of my life except for four years that I gave to serve my country, I love the Blount County community that I continue to serve.

Looking back to the early 1980's as a Deputy Sheriff in Blount County, we had absolutely no equipment and no longevity of officers. Other than a few medical retirements, there has been no incentive for long-term employment until the tenure of now Sheriff James L. Berrong.

I departed my first stint of employment with the Blount County Sheriff's Office in 1985 and left with the thought there would never be any reason for my return. In 1989, the elected sheriff was arrested by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Blount County Commission saw fit to appoint James L. Berrong to serve as our sheriff.

He quickly sought to develop a professional organization. He appointed the one person I see as the current grandfather of the local law enforcement community to serve as his Chief Deputy, Don Boring, a proven professional in every sense of the word. The two fought together for professional standards and ethics in the law enforcement family.

They gained accreditation under the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) and we were reaccredited in March of this year. We join with our sister cities of Maryville and Alcoa in meeting these nationally established standards. Currently we are one of only three Sheriff's Offices in the state of Tennessee to meet this standard of service in our law enforcement endeavor to the community we serve.

Since the passing of a bare bones budget in July, we have lost 31 employees who opted to depart for various reasons but, primarily for better pay and more lucrative benefits with other law enforcement agencies. For example:

1. A patrol officer with the city of Maryville makes approximately $13,000 more per year than the equivalent deputy sheriff here.

2. A deputy sheriff in Polk County, Tennessee (population less than 20,000) starting salary is $1.49 more per hour.

3. A patrol officer with the city of Alcoa tops out $41,974 compared to an equivalent deputy sheriff here topping at $35,380.

Insurance and benefits with the two cities far exceed ours with Blount County. Statutorily a deputy sheriff has far more duties than a city police officer, we cover 29 times more territory geographically than our two sister city agencies, and we often answer your calls for service when our nearest back-up unit is 20 minutes or more away.

As in any profession, you get what you pay for. After 17 years of forward progression your Sheriff's Office has become a training ground for other agencies and this trend will not stop until the monetary deficiency is rectified in terms of salary, benefits, and equipment to complete the very job you ask us to perform.

As for the vocal minority I spoke of earlier, look at who they are, where they relocated from, how long have they been a part of our community, and what is their motivation to continually disseminate erroneous information? Good examples are Linda King and Jim Folts; they obviously have not been a victim of a home invasion and anxiously awaited an officer bursting down the door to rescue them. They have not ridden in a patrol car responding to a life and death situation. And most importantly, they have declined numerous offers to visit the Blount County Sheriff's Office and get the true and accurate information about our budget and an opportunity to examine the equipment of a professional law enforcement agency and how it is applied to the daily real world situations we deal with.

Blount County was once a quiet and sleepy community. Unfortunately, like the places they depart from, it has changed and will continue to do so. We must be prepared to meet those challenges head-on or we too will seek a better place to live, work, raise a family, and yes, hopefully retire someday.

As I write this letter, employee 32 (since July 1) has just given written notice to leave the Blount County Sheriff's Office. He advises me that he has an offer with a neighboring agency with the potential to make $56,000 after only five years there. Ladies and gentlemen of Blount County, I ask you, what do you expect of your Sheriff's Office?

Ron Dunn

940 E. Lamar Alexander Pkwy.

Maryville, TN 37804