Story Published:
Jul 21, 2009 at 8:33 AM CST
Story Updated:
Jul 21, 2009 at 9:41 PM CST
At the Putnam County Commissioners meeting Monday night, County Executive Kim Blaylock requested a special, non-agenda item be considered.
She explained that Sheriff David Andrews and Detective Patterson had come to her in the past few days wanting to know if they could apply for a grant that would provide a position for a special anti-porn officer.
The reason it wasn’t on the agenda was that the Sheriff had only received the letter mere days before the meeting, and it was too late to get it on, and a rapid decision had to be made on it.
Commissioner Chair Martin allowed the request to be formally presented.
Sheriff Andrews and Detective Jimmy Patterson explained to the commission that the position would be fully funded, and would 100% cover the salary, specialized training, equipment cost, and all associated costs of hiring an anti-porn agent for the period of three years.
It’s a grant administered through the Knoxville Police Department.
The Algood and Cookeville Police Departments requested that the Sheriff’s department apply for this program.
Since Detective Patterson is already a child abuse/sex crime investigator, this program, should the grant be awarded to Cookeville, would push the envelope from being strictly reactive to crimes that have already been committed to being proactive, possibly nabbing the offenders before they ever have a chance to hurt innocents.
Commissioner Johnnie Wheeler spoke for the abused (past, present, and future) when she declared, “If this grant is for three years, and it saves one, two or twenty children, then it’s well worth it.”
The key consideration was whether post-grant funding would be available for the position created. "Once you create a position," said Kim Blaylock, "you're going to have to think about whether you're going to keep funding it."
The motion to allow Sheriff Andrews, Detective Patterson, and County Executive Blaylock to go forward with writing the grant proposal passed.
