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Graham County Commissioners Dear Commissioners: I am concerned that the actions of the County Commissioners have put residents at risk. In an effort to save money, the Commissioners are not permitting deputies to drive their cars to their residences when off duty. Not having a patrol car available may result in a long response time to an emergency call. If the deputy on duty and the back up deputy are both involved in an emergency, another deputy, who lives nearby, would have to drive across the county to respond to an emergency, which could easily take an hour. The result could be disaster. It is possible that unattended patrol cars are at risk for theft, vandalism, or mischief, which could result in more down time and greater expense to the county. Undetected damage (loosened wheel lug nuts, etc.) to unattended patrol cars may result in an accident; damage to patrol cars; injury or death. The logical solution would be to cut funds to nonessential services and return to the former policy of allowing deputies to have patrol cars accessible to them on, and off duty, at their homes, but not for personal use. We are asking the County Commissioners to make the safety of Graham County residents their primary concern and return to the previous policy of allowing deputies to drive their patrol cars while off official duty. We do support the Graham County Justice Advisory Board's concern for public safety in this matter. Sincerely,
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