BEDFORD – Lawrence County Sheriff Greg Day thanked the community and government officials for their outpouring of love, prayers, and support after two officers Deputy Josh Rhoades and Mitchell Police Officer Christian Anderson were injured in an officer-involved shooting on Sunday, February 5 on State Road 37 at the Sinclair station.
Deputy Rhodes was hit twice, and Officer Anderson was hit once in the shoulder. Both are facing a lengthy recovery.
“I am super proud of my officers,” said Sheriff Day. “I am waiting for the Indiana State Police to complete their investigation so I can release it to the public. When that is done I think the public will also be super proud of these officers.”
Sheriff Day told the commissioners Tuesday morning he is actively addressing staffing shortages at the Lawrence County Jail and Central Dispatch.
“I thought we had Central Dispatch fully staffed at 11, but within five hours of accomplishing that one of the new hires decided this was not for them and quit,” said Sheriff Greg Day. “Then our supervisor put in her notice and the second in charge gave their two-week to take a position as a Bedford City Police dispatcher for more pay. My goal is to still have dispatch fully staffed by April 1.”
The Sheriff’s Department is also short six deputies.
“We have 14 out of 20,” added Sheriff Day. “One was deployed and Officer Josh Rhoades is recovering, another is on administrative leave which is standard after an officer-involved shooting and one has been pulled to Central Dispatch.
In the jail, the department is currently short one male jailer officer and three female matrons.
“We have one female jail officer that we are now doing a background check on hope to have her on staff soon,” Sheriff Day added. “This is the best we have been in a long time.
Sheriff Day is also looking at starting new programming for inmates including an Alcoholics Anonymous class for women and working with Hope Resources to possibly start a parenting class and a drug and alcohol rehabilitation-type program.
Jail numbers continue to creep upward.
Sheriff Day reported there were 110 inmates in the jail as of Tuesday morning. Of those 92 were males, 18 were females, 10 were Level 6 offenders, four were Department of Correction holds and four were parole holds.
Chief Public Defender Tim Sledd reported to the commissioners the jail population has increased due to the number of petitions to revoke (PTR) and failure to appear (FTA) arrests.
“Officers are out there beating the bushes and bringing in those wanted on warrants,” said Sledd.
“I keep my finger on the jail count,” added Sledd. “Those arrested on PTR and FTA warrants are held without bond and we are working on getting them out of jail as fast as possible whether that means they are sentenced to house arrest or the Department of Corrections or other options.
The key is that no inmates that are sentenced to long-term sentences are being held at the jail.
Sheriff Day reported the current four DOC prisoners will be transported this week. According to Sledd, most of the inmates currently being housed in the jail are there for 60 days or less.
In July 2022, there was more than 21 percent of the inmates held for 300 days or more, now this month there are only 3 inmates that have stayed that long, or 3.6 percent.
“The system is working and keeping the jail population down and the numbers reveal that,” Sledd said.
