The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, in conjunction with the East Ridge Police Department, arrested 26-year-old Kile Alexander Gore of East Ridge on Feb. 23. He was charged with one count of aggravated assault, attempted aggravated robbery and burglary in relation to a crime in Walden, TN on Feb. 21. (Contributed photo) Walden officials have issued a 120-day notice to the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office as the town prepares to consider renewing its contract with the department for police services.
Under state law, officers from the Sheriff's Office are required to patrol the roads in Walden, but towns also have the ability to supplement that basic police coverage with their own police department or through contracts with other law enforcement entities.
Since the mid-1990s, Walden has been hiring additional police services from the county for $160,000 to $180,000 a year, but now, officials are saying the town is not receiving the services it is contracted for.
The contract calls for law enforcement protection 24 hours a day by an officer assigned primarily to the town seven days a week.
When the contract was first drawn up, it worked well, town recorder Fern Lockhart said.
Many residents still remember Deputy Frankie Bates, who attended Neighborhood Watch meetings and was a visible presence in the town, as well as other county officers who played an active role in Walden's security by taking on responsibilities like locking up the Pumpkin Patch Playground's bathrooms at night.
But over the past few years, that police presence has been waning, officials say.
Alderman Lee Davis said he has received numerous inquires from residents concerned about the decrease in police patrolling the area, and Mayor Bill Trohanis said that while the officers haven't vanished entirely, the town isn't receiving the 24-hour coverage the contract promises.
"We're not getting consistency, we're not getting coverage," Trohanis said. "There's no indication that someone is parking and walking around like they should."
That lack of round-the-clock coverage was felt most recently during an armed robbery on Feb. 21.
Around 7:30 p.m. that night, a Walden man was held up at gunpoint by a masked assailant behind his home in the 1500 Block of E. Brow Road, police records show. At 6:15 p.m. that same night, however, a nearby resident called to report the same suspicious person in the neighborhood, but no officers responded.
"That's precisely the problem that this [notice] is addressing," Davis said. "After the call went out at 7:30, Signal Mountain police did arrive and later, county folks did respond, but if we had someone in Walden 24 hours a day, seven days a week, there should have been somebody there in minutes."
On Feb. 23, East Ridge resident Kile Alexander Gore, 26, was arrested and charged with one count of aggravated assault, attempted aggravated robbery and burglary in relation to the crime, according to an HCSO news release.
Though Davis said he has also seen the police presence decline since he moved to the mountain in 1996, he stressed that that absence is likely unintentional.
Walden is one of the smaller towns in the county's large jurisdiction, and the cars sent to the area are also responsible for patrolling Lookout Valley, explained Davis, who has worked alongside the Sheriff's Office for 30 years as a criminal defense attorney and said he understands the pressure the department is under.
"I'm not being critical of the Sheriff's Department. They do a good job," he said. "The reality is we are not receiving the services we are contracted for."
More than likely, Davis said, representatives from the town and police department simply haven't met to review the contract and its expectations in a few years.
The notice will give the department a chance to address the issue before it comes time to discuss renewing the contract in June. It is expected to jumpstart a conversation with the county about whether the expected police coverage is realistic or whether the town would need to start considering alternative options, Davis said.
In the mid '90s, Walden had a small police department that was eventually replaced with the HCSO contract due to associated costs. If the town officials choose not to renew the contract, they could again create their own police department or contract the services out to another entity.
But before any alternatives are considered, Walden officials are hoping to work with the county to renegotiate the contract and bring back the days when Deputy Bates and other county officers were a part of the town.
"That's what I would like to see, in my opinion, come back to Walden," Trohanis says of Bates.
The Sheriff's Office confirmed it had received the notice, and G. A. Bennett, director of Support Services, said the sheriff has already met with his command staff and the county attorney to address the issue in a fair and equitable way.
"We take our law enforcement responsibilities for Walden very seriously," Bennett said.
Further contract negotiations with Walden representatives are being scheduled for the near future.