Jefferson County deputy involved in wreck
Associated Press
A Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputy was taken to UAB Hospital after a crash in Walker County.
It happened just after 9PM Saturday on U.S. Highway 78 near the Warrior River Bridge.
The Sheriff’s Office says the deputy’s cruiser was hit by a pickup truck that pulled onto the highway from Sipsey Road, causing the deputy’s vehicle to rest about 100 feet down an embankment.
The unidentified deputy was taken to UAB Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. A pregnant passenger in the pickup truck was also taken to UAB Hospital as a precaution. No one else was injured.
The Alabama State Troopers are investigating the accident.
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Thank you mom, for you appreciation. I’ve considered returning to the job, but not in the Birmingham or Jeffco vicinity.
The thing that a lot of people don’t understand is in I would say at least 90% of most law enforcement factions, there is a vehicle use policy, in particular sheriff’s departments/deputies which usually maintain limited or smaller forces.
And it’s not a perk, per se. There is a logistical reason behind the policy.
In a lot of cases ALL command staff, on-call detectives, evidence technicians and specialized staff members such as canine officers take cars home.
There are gas cards, trip tickets, and mileage audits worked on a monthly basis. In fact, where I worked, we were allowed to use our vehicles in the city and up to 5 miles outside city borders and county borders for personal business. Also, if I had used my allotted fuel, I paid for it myself. Just as if it were my own vehicle.
This scenario makes for a much better “ready state” should something ever happen and all resources available are needed immediately. Think of it as being on-call 24/7.
While it did help make an already stressful and demanding job a lot easier to have use of that vehicle, I never considered it a “perk” that I had to have, or, like some we all know, expected.
So a lot of this policy I’ve explained is the same for most of these deputies. It is helping them do their job and making their lives easier while keeping everyone else safer, whether everyone is aware of the reasons or not.
I feel that the first-responder areas are the last places where monetary cuts should be made and restrictions placed. Not when there are white-collar fat cats making a lot more money at a lot less risk and can afford to tighten their very own hypocritical purse strings.
Until the actual policy is known on vehicle usage, don’t feel like it’s an abuse if you don’t have all the facts. But just be glad they’re there when you need them and let them do their jobs.
And certainly, if you have proof of something being done which goes blatantly against policy, or you feel is abuse, then report it. If it’s a misdeed, chances are it will be corrected and with appreciation.
chicago 1 thank you for your 10 years of law enforcement. my father retired from Vestavia force with honor and respect. Law enforcement with firefighters is the most prestigious job there is yes they put their lives on the line. But they also see many things that are heart wrenching and that they can never forget so it is emotional and mental. they are men and women to be respected. as for the county comiision they are a joke to politics and all should be banned from ever holding a public office the fact that Smoot thinks she should run for a state office proves just how egotistic they are. I don’t know how they can walk out in public. yes thankfully that woman is getting her chemo. But still county vehicles should stay in Jefferson County…
You’re right Mom, it is about priorities.
However, having a deputy readily available in his cruiser, instead of swapping around personal transportation if it means his being allowed to use it for a small side trip or a family emergency, could just as well mean the difference in life or death to someone. Would you rather it be sitting idle and him not on duty, or absorb that little extra cost and have him on the road?
The woman you referred to is receiving her chemo treatments today, and as was stated, by William Bell, nobody will be denied necessary life treatments due to county cutbacks. You can’t put that argument of her predicament in the same boat.
My point is, why is everyone worried about controlling a couple of deputies using a cruiser they’re already on the road in, going from one place to another, (not including an emergency situation, which in my opinion might merit more reason of the car’s use as long as it does not put other people at risk due to it’s being used for such a purpose) instead of questioning and demanding why Betty Fine Collins is still taking money for a shiny black euro-sedan, or Sheila Smoot is using double her transportation funds? They both take in 6 digit salaries PLUS expenses. They’re the ones to go after. They’re not doing their job and have failed to do their job for some time.
The deputies are still doing their job and it’s a helluva lot more dangerous than sitting behind that fancy desk they sit behind.
It’s all about priority, culpability, and hypocrisy, not necessarily or only the situation itself.
One definitely does outweigh the other and I think there are plenty of means to cull the monetary waste in the county other than wanting absolute control over what a few deputies use their cruisers for while they are on duty or off.
If they’re abusing the matter to extended degrees, absolutely, then it needs to be looked at, but in most cases, the complaints aren’t truly about an abuse of power or job more so than just a dislike for law enforcement in general….and people who don’t like peace officers will say just about anything against them to make them look bad or abusive. I know, I was one for 10 years.
chicago 1 you want to critize others when it is simple the county has on a whole messed up alot. and now is in a bind that is near impossible to get out of. you are right to say others dept are also at fault. The sheriff dept. does great work as does the city law enforcement. and it is a good idea to have cruisers parked at home in neighborhoods to deter crime. but when the cruisers are at ballgames, walmarts,etc. when they are being driven back and forth to work for out od county employees that’s a problem, when we as in the news today withheld treatment from patients in a life and death situation at the hospital. I think the priority is mixed up. to stop chemo for a cancer patient or let a deputy drive back and forth to another county to go to work which takes priority I put a person life first
Dearest alm72, first, I normally don’t respond to attacks on my opinions, but because yours was so juvenile and asinine, I couldn’t resist.
So you’re so much better than myself or any other who disagrees with your opinion or does not share the same?
Telling someone to leave is your idea of “intelligent rebuttal”? Basically, your post tells everything that anyone would ever need to know about you. And that’s sad. For you.
Did you even read the news story, have you even considered the logic about attacking one entity of the county while allowing others to do as they please?
Apparently not, and being most apparent is your lack of ability of intellect to do so.
So hit me again with your blazing rhetoric (and calling it even that is an extreme stretch) if you want. I won’t respond again, as I’ve wasted enough of my time on you.
Have a nice day!
aim 72 thank you for your comments to chicago 1 they are obiviously not a jefferon county taxpayer. I also can only agree with one thing they posted that the deputies do a great job. But so do all of our law enforcement city and county, That still being said our cruisers have no business out of the county. you would not see a birmingham officer drive a cruiser to montgomery for a family emergency. so again I say this was just a act of one who abuses the authority of the badge so many of our law enforment are honorable and deserve our utmost respect but there is always a few in everything that take advantage and hurt the reputation of the others. I hope if chicago one ever needs to call 911 the cruiser for his/her area is in the county and not is some other county.
Hey! chicago1, first of all if you are from Chicago go back and,second you are an idiot! You made one true statement,officers of the sheriff’s department are doing a great job of protecting and serving. The rest of your babbling is just bunk. What you relayed in you statements is like an a** h***, everybody has one. YES! I voted for Obama, and I’m glad I did.I also voted for him not because he’s Black but, because I wanted to see change. To you chicago1 I say GET A LIFE!!! You idiot. Remember, stupid is as stupid does.
There’s an awful lot of petty attitude going on here about the deputies using their cruisers.
Hey, people…think about this for a minute. These men AND women are out there, understaffed and overburdened EVERY DAY and EVERY NIGHT, protecting YOU, YOUR FAMILY and YOUR PROPERTY.
They take on the bad guys, they come to YOUR aid and YOUR need when you YOU have a problem. They keep drunk drivers off the road, they slow down idiots who think they can drive 100 miles an hour on the roads and highways you and your kids travel on.
If they want to take their cruiser home or drive it to a personal event for one day or park it in their driveway so THUGS don’t come into YOUR neighborhood at night because it makes their lives and jobs a little bit easier, then you should be THANKFUL and GLAD that they do so!!!!!!
If you want to cry about abuse, then get off your fat butts and make some comments about the worthless county commissioners who are wasting money as we breathe, or better yet, go down in person and talk to those worthless arsesd county commissioners; Smoot, Fine and all the rest.
Fine Collins stating that if she does have to park her county MERCEDES, she’ll pocket the $400 a month she gets for it. Yeah, there’s a real civic minded and generous attitude for you. And she’s the RING LEADER!
Talk about the ones who have just been PROVEN in a STATE AUDIT to have mishandled BILLIONS of county dollars over the past few years. THEY’RE the ones you need to be complaining about. NOT the Jeffco Deputies.
So, the next time you need to dial 911, think about it first—if you complain enough about the job the deputies do while using a cruiser for an errand or taking it home, then perhaps next time you dial for their help they might just tell you, “Sorry, can’t right now. I have to take my cruiser back to the station, get my car and go get my kids from school and then go back and get my cruiser and go back on patrol, BUT when I’m done with that, I’ll gladly come help, but in the meantime, you’re on your own.“
How would you like that instead?
LIGHTEN UP ON THE DEPUTIES. THEY DO A GREAT JOB. And they don’t need your whining and standing on their backs complaining about where they drive a car. Go find somebody else’s lives to control, like Obama. I’m betting those complaining voted for him sure as day is bright.
giles 202 sorry to hear he had a family emergency but most of us clock out get in our own vehicle and go home to handle emergencies? was he off the taxpayer money? why was he in a county car outside the county? what about the area he was patroling was it left unattended while he off in another county? Good point the commission does need to look much harder into this how many who live outside of Jefferson county drive a county vehicle on the taxpayers to get back and forth to work? gas repairs upkeep that is of no value to Jeff county? If they live in the county then yes a crusier in the neighborhood might help deter crime, but what does walker county resident pay to Jeff sheriff dept. more example of wasted money. all county vehicles should be keep in the county.
You know its funny how that you can read a short story and make all these assumption on the situation. The first thing is I have knowledge that the deputy was attending a family emergency and had left from work, sometimes that happens. I think the Sheriff of Jefferson County has done a good job. When a Deputy parks the Sheriffs vehicle in front of the grocery store or convience store in Jefferson County it serves as a giant billboard to criminals. So I ask you to think about that the next time your at your local Wal-Mart in Pinson or where ever you live in Jefferson county. If your unhappy now with your Police protection in Jefferson County just think about this, your county commissioners who have done such a fine job spending the money of the Jefferson County citizens along with the citizens of other counties who work in Jefferson County, they want to cut the Sheriffs budget so you have less that you have now.
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