What the Sheriff’s Office Has Done for WilCo Day 1: Taking the Oath on January 1, 2017
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heriff Robert Chody understands law enforcement is about more than arrests. Since his election in 2016, he has created and affected many changes to make Williamson a safer and more connected county. He spoke with the Advocate to talk about his “top five” and other programs that have had the greatest impact for residents, deputies, and corrections.
2. COLD CASE UNIT
The Cold Case Unit has full-time staff and many expert volunteers working daily to solve more than a dozen cases spanning several decades. “While we haven’t solved any of the murders,” the Sheriff explains, “in just 2-1/2 years we have identified two victims who had been unknown since 1979 and 1989. That is a huge accomplishment for our team and provides some measure of closure for their families. But, most importantly, my detectives now have a new starting point to look for persons of interest and suspects.”
1. REDUCTION IN RESPONSE TIMES
When the Sheriff began his tenure, average response time in the County was 21-28 minutes. By 2019, he says, that time was reduced to just over 11 minutes. “This is a big accomplishment. We made it a priority to hire more deputies, and now require minimum staffing for all shifts. With budget and COVID considerations, this has been challenging, but I plan to continue adding personnel and reducing that response time further.” In addition to personnel, the Sheriff adjusted the department’s Nature Codes to reflect, more accurately, the priority response for each. He explains, “We had a ‘cow’ code that was considered a priority response. But a cow loose in a person’s backyard no longer warrants the same response as a cow in the middle of Route 29, which is a dangerous situation. Deputies should have not have to decide between a loose cow or an assault in progress, based solely on a code. With these changes, we are able to direct our deputies to the most appropriate place.” As such, the department responds first to life endangerment, active burglary and assault, and CPR. 12
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3. SELF DEFENSE ACADEMY
This free service to the community (photo above) helps educate citizens on self-defense, and the highly-trained instructors also provide inhouse training for officers to hone their ground fighting skills. “This kind of training is another tool in the toolbox for officers and the general
