Policy aims to improve Jackson sheriff recruitment

BY HOLLY KAYS S TAFF WRITER S heriff Chip Hall is hoping that a recently adopted policy change will make it easier for the Jackson County Sheriff ’s Department to recruit experienced law enforcement officers.

“What we’re wanting to do is expand the options that’s available to us,” he told commissioners during a Feb. 10 work session discussing the issue. “We had a number of retirees that went to work for us, and we had to come up with a policy for our retirees, and that document reads, ‘any work documented through the local or state retirement system administered by this state or other state or federal government compatible jurisdiction of government.’ What we would like to do is expand that into our current county policy to allow us to reach out to some of these other agencies and officers.” Commissioners approved the policy change by unanimous vote at their regular meeting Feb. 17. Before the change was enacted, prospective deputies transferring from other agencies could only receive a salary recognizing their years of experience on a one-to-one basis if they were part of the N.C. Local Government Employees Retirement System or the N.C. Local Governments Employee Retirement System for Law Enforcement Officers. Essentially, that meant that only officers coming from

Chip Hall. File photo

other town or county law enforcement agencies could receive a salary that fully reflected their years of experience.

However, that policy left out two significant agencies that exist within Jackson County’s own borders — the Western Carolina University Police Department and the Cherokee Indian Police Department.

“This is trying to empower the sheriff to recruit active officers,” County Manager Don Adams said during the work session. Under the revised policy, recruits can receive one-to-one credit for their years of experience as long as they’ve been certified under the N.C. Department of Justice through either the N.C. Sheriff ’s Training and Standards or the Criminal Justice Training and Standards. In addition, a recruit receiving credit for direct experience must be actively working as a full-time, state-certified law enforcement officer, with only consecutive years of service in North Carolina up to the time of the application considered.

The changes are mainly aimed at enabling the sheriff to recruit from WCU and Cherokee, but they would also allow other types of law enforcement officers — such as highway patrolmen, State Bureau of Investigation officers and wildlife officers, for example — to join the department with full credit for years of experience.

“Are there other groups in the state that we’re not thinking about that would potentially want to come on board and take a job as a deputy sheriff in North Carolina?” Chairman Brian McMahan asked during the work session.

Adams replied that it’s difficult to craft a policy that addresses every potential circumstance but pointed out that the policy is discretionary. The county manager has the authority to approve any hire up to a step 12 that meets the policy requirements, but commissioners can approve hires above step 12 or hires that don’t meet the policy requirements. Policies can also be changed. “If a year from now somebody showed up we didn’t think about, we’d just have to sit down and talk about it,” said Adams. Commissioner approved the policy change unanimously, with an enactment day of Feb. 18. Commissioner Mickey Luker was absent from the meeting. The changes are mainly aimed at enabling the sheriff to recruit from WCU and Cherokee, but they would also allow other types of law enforcement officers to join the department with full credit for years of experience.

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Fentanyl overdose results in federal charges

BY HOLLY KAYS S TAFF WRITER C herokee resident Shannon White, 42, will face federal charges for allegedly distributing fentanyl that resulted in an overdose death.

The bill of indictment, delivered by a grand jury sitting in Charlotte, alleges that on Jan. 28, 2019, White “did knowingly and intentionally distribute a mixture or substance containing fentanyl, a Schedule II controlled substance, and death resulted from the use of the fentanyl.” The indictment identifies the deceased only by the initials J.F.

White was arrested by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and the Swain County Sheriff ’s Office on Friday, Feb. 21, and appeared in court on Monday, Feb. 24, before Magistrate Judge W. Carlton Metcalf. An attorney was appointed to her, and a detention hearing is scheduled for 9:15 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26.

If convicted, White will face a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison with a maximum term of life in prison, plus up to a $1 million fine. The case is being prosecuted in federal court due to White’s status as an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray of the Western District of North Carolina, who announced White’s arrest, has joined U.S. attorneys for the state’s middle and eastern districts, as well as the District of South Carolina, in calling on Congress to permanently ban fentanyl and its analogues. Congress passed a 15-month extension on DEA’s existing ban on all variants of fentanyl, which President Donald Trump signed into law on Feb. 6. The extension expires on May 6, 2021.

“While I am thankful that Congress extended the temporary ban on fentanyl and fentanyl-like analogues, I join law enforcement and prosecutors across the nation in calling for action to permanently outlaw this deadly substance and all its derivatives,” Murray said. “Temporary bans are the equivalent of putting a BandAid on a gushing wound. We need a permanent fix. Fentanyl and fentanyl analogues kill people and devastate communities. These drugs belong in same legal category as heroin and other deadly substances.”

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