Sheriff: No issues with county leaders, staff

Before Bertie County Sheriff Tyrone Ruffin offered his county law enforcement update Monday evening.

In it, he made it a point to explain to the commissioners and to the citizens there was no tension between himself, the commissioners, the county manager or anyone else.

“There’s no issues between the commissioners and the sheriff, the jail or the sheriff. It’s all business. So if our differences and opinions may be different, but that’s okay, said Ruffin.

“Four years ago when I became the sheriff, one of my top priorities was to be transparent. And I take pride in being transparent with the citizen of Bertie County,” he continued. “Along those lines, if anything that I feel is a public safety to the citizens, I believe in sharing and informing the citizen about what’s going on. So, I take pride in that, also.”

Law enforcement departments have been facing additional stress due to a lack of any holding cells for new detainees. However, Ruffin reported things are getting better and the challenges may be easing.

“I will say that since last month things have been much better. The Bertie County Sheriff’s Office had a total of 12 arrests and five of them needed places of confinement. Out of all five, we were able thanks to the regional jail staff to find placement within an hour and a half,” the sheriff said. “So that has been a blessing to my staff and to myself. However, that could change at any time.”

The financial challenges due to transportation and overtime costs are beginning to show. Ruffin had already informed Vaughan of a possible departmental budgetary shortfall and wanted to alert the commissioners to the future possibility. Fuel and transportation costs have increased since BMRJ’s closure.

While much of Ruffin’s report was positive, the vehicle accident report wasn’t.

“I will say that this year has not been good for the Bertie County Sheriff’s Office when it comes to vehicle accidents,” Ruffin said. “We’ve had a total of five vehicles that have been involved in collisions. With one of those vehicle collisions, the deputy was at fault, the deputy was cited, but the others — one was a deer accident and the other three, people have run into my deputy’s cars.

“So all five of those are all of the road,” said Ruffin. “We have been working closely with the human resources and the finance department to try to get replacements for these rigs, because three of them are totaled. The other two, they are working to get in the shop, to get done.”

Previously facing employment challenges and numerous vacant positions, Ruffin reported that 25 out of 27 allotted positions are filled and remain filled.

Ruffin also addressed a recently implemented sheriff’s service that will perform daily residence welfare checks for up to seven days.

“If you are traveling for seven days or have a loved one you would like checked on, the sheriff’s office now provides the service. There is no cost to the resident,” Ruffin said. “If you’re traveling out of town or if your loved one is home and you just need somebody to check on them, we will provide residence checks at no cost to the citizens of Bertie County simply contact the sheriff’s office.”