Greeson: Good discretion would be funding sheriff's simulator now

Jay Greeson

From the moment the Sneaky Six - the six Hamilton County commissioners who bonded together to re-insert their discretionary funds back into the county budget - first appeared together as a galvanized, money-grubbing group, I have been against it.

Solely "discretionary," in reference to public funds, is little more than a fancy term for a slush fund. Cut it however you want and rationalize it until the Atlanta Braves are actually good again, but everyone sees it.

It's a six-figure bank account for commissioners to curry favor in their districts. Period.

That said, here's a way to make the most out of those slush funds for the good of the entire county.

After spending 90 minutes with two of the sharpest training officers in the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department, I have learned it would take about $70,000 to arm the county's law enforcement arm with some much-needed training technology.

Follow along.

Monday, several area media types will participate in a simulator that not only trains and tests our brave law officers on their shooting accuracy, but also with their real-time decision-making and their recognition of dangerous situations.

The sheriff's office is trying to raise support for purchasing - rather than renting by the week - this potentially life-saving equipment, even to the extent of passing the hat at a luncheon next week.

Lt. Jody Mays and SWAT deputy Blake Kilpatrick walked a few of us through the protocol and the benefits of this type of training technology.

This simulator is not just helping us protect those who protect all of us, it's also protecting the people of this county. That's something we should do now. Not Monday with a check or Tuesday after a chicken dinner.

Today. Like 10 minutes ago, in fact.

Mays delivered a message we all know but we all take for granted: Our law enforcement officials are faced with life-and-death moments that call for life-and-death decisions. There are countless such moments in the course of the year, and some involve whether to pull their weapons and use deadly force.

That decision is far more frequent than you know. And in truth, our sheriff deputies and police officers get it right far more times than not.

When those decisions are wrong, though, a life can be taken and many more lives destroyed. Heck, even when the decisions of the officer are ruled correct in the totality of the circumstances, such as in Ferguson, Mo., there can still be tragic results.

We call for our law enforcement friends in the most trying of scenarios, and we should do everything in our power to equip them with the best gear and training we can afford.

And it's not like we're talking about a king's ransom. Heck, 10 days ago, the county commissioners spent almost $96,000 in 12 minutes from their private, petty-cash collections. The money went to a wide array of causes, from Orange Grove to the Waldens Ridge EMS to the Highland Park Neighborhood Association.

One commissioner gave $6,000 to the Sculpture Fields at Montague Park, for Pete's sake. If the seven commissioners who kept their discretionary funds ponied up about that same amount of coin - and here's betting County Mayor Jim Coppinger would be glad to support something this beneficial - the sheriff's department can get started training its 400 or so employees sooner rather than later.

Right now, the sheriff's office spends $6,000 a year renting the training system for two weeks and trying to schedule all of its deputies through that tight time frame.

Mays said Friday the county would be glad to share a simulator with county municipalities such as Signal Mountain, Soddy-Daisy, et al.

This simulator can better prepare all of our crimefighters to make good split-second decisions with lives hanging in the balance.

They deserve this, and, frankly, so do we taxpayers.

Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com and 423-757-6343.