Iredell in Transition :: Powered by statesville.com and mooresvilletribune.com

Law enforcement adjusts to control crowded courts, jails

Donna Swicegood | .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) | May 1, 2008

On any given day, dozens of inmates at the Iredell County Detention Center sleep on a thin mattress on the floor because the more than 250 beds at the main facility are full.

Jail personnel have seen the population of the facility triple in 25 years. In January 1983, the jail housed 221 inmates. In January of this year, the figure topped 650, said Lt. Mike Valentine, jail administrator.

Lt. Burt Connelly, who oversees the jail, said the unprecedented growth in Iredell County is one of the main reasons for the overcrowding.

Sheriff Phil Redmond said a jail expansion in the mid-1990s has been a temporary fix. That facility increased capacity from a little less than 100 to around 250.

That’s not nearly enough, he said, and with the continued growth on the horizon, the problem is only going to get worse.

Building a new jail is under consideration, but as with the current facility, it will likely be facing the same overcrowding issues in a few years.

Addressing the increasing inmate population is just one of the ways in which law enforcement is having to deal with growth creeping up from the Charlotte area.

Staffing
More people moving into the county, new businesses and large developments call for additional services of all sorts — from more police officers or deputies on the streets to the need for more fire stations and EMS personnel and equipment.

The Statesville Police Department, for example, is going to have to increase personnel and get more equipment to cope with the Larkin development at Interstate 77’s Exit 45 — a proposed 1,000-acre development — and other new housing developments planned for areas south of Statesville.

SPD Assistant Chief Tom Anderson said that while it will be challenging to deal with the growth the city is likely to experience in the next few years, it’s a challenge he believes the department is ready to meet.

“This is an exciting time,” he said.

Anderson said the key will be to look for alternate means of providing police protection and looking at placing manpower where it is needed most.

Placing substations in the new areas and tying those stations to the main station via computer will be one way in which the department will address the new growth areas.

Also, he said, working with the Troutman Police Department will also be a vital part of the puzzle.

The growth south of Statesville and north of Mooresville is squeezing Troutman in the middle, and TPD Chief Matthew Selves said his department is likely to undergo the most changes in the next few years.

Currently, the TPD has 10 officers — doubled from 10 years ago when the department had just five or six officers. Twenty-five years ago, the department boasted a chief and one other officer.
Traffic

Both Selves and Anderson said that while crime will continue to be their main focus, the increased traffic and an increased number of wrecks will be the biggest headache in the coming years.

Both administrators said they plan to stress traffic issues, such as speeding, in an effort to prevent wrecks.

Anderson said the SPD is looking to increase its traffic unit from two officers to at least one more. The two traffic officers, along with their regular patrol duties, investigate fatal wrecks or crashes with serious injuries.

SPD’s traffic unit was initially funded with grant money from the state, and Selves said he’s hoping Troutman will eventually fund a traffic unit through those means.

“We have to educate the public about the need to enforce traffic laws,” Selves said.

Anderson, Selves and Redmond all said their agencies will have to look at computer technology and other means of providing protection aside from putting more people in patrol cars. Ideas include cameras in high traffic areas, the in-car ability to process reports and constantly having officers in problem areas.

Anderson and Redmond said both departments will continue to use bike patrols — the city along the South Statesville area and the sheriff’s office along Brawley School Road — to put officers in certain areas. Redmond, Anderson and Selves said having officers get out of their cars and talk with people in given areas is essential to providing protection and, therefore, curbing crime before it starts.

Redmond said his main focus will continue to address the flow of drugs into and through Iredell County. “Eighty percent of all crimes are tied to drugs, and now criminals are crossing state and international lines, so we have to work hard to stay one step ahead of the criminal element,” he said.

Photo: Inmates sleep on the floor and along the wall at the Iredell County Jail, where overcrowding is a major issue. Bruce Matlock photo

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