PASCAGOULA, Miss. (AP) - Jackson County Interim Sheriff Charles Britt plans to inventory everything bought by his predecessor.
The department’s books don’t match county records for equipment and supplies, Britt told the Board of Supervisors last week.
“We will find out what the county owns and what hasn’t been properly inventoried,” he told The Sun Herald (https://bit.ly/1e80lIL) in an interview. “If it was purchased with county money, it’s county property. Even with drug forfeiture money, it belongs to the county. It’s not private property.
He said he’s been told that quite a few unmarked cars are “scattered about in driveways.” The vehicles come with gas cards, he said.
“We’ve got a lot of looking to do,” he said. “Not to say it’s criminal, it’s saying we just need to account for everything that should be accounted for.
“There are individuals with cars that don’t believe they’re doing anything wrong,” Harris said. “But if they have equipment and they’re using it for their personal purposes, that would be wrong.”
Britt already has found administrative cars he can convert to patrol cars. He says he’s considering ways to transform them without paying $450 to have them repainted, the newspaper said.
Harris said cameras, computers and motorcycles aren’t properly accounted for and guns may not be.
Former sheriff Mike Byrd bought many items with drug forfeiture money, and always had justifiable reasons, Supervisor John McKay said. He Byrd told supervisors that the department needed all-terrain vehicles and four-wheelers for drug raids in the woods, he said.
Byrd held the office for 14 years. He resigned in December after pleading guilty to intimidating a witness and obstructing justice.
Byrd’s spending on vehicles and the cost of maintenance was an issue in the last sheriff’s race. When he left office, Byrd had at least four unmarked vehicles assigned to himself, including a large pickup, a Dodge Durango and a Dodge Charger.
During an election interview with the Sun Herald in 2011, Byrd said, “Every vehicle the Sheriff’s Department has is used for a reason.” Asked about those assigned to him, he said, they were “being used for specific purposes. End of story.”
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Information from: The Sun Herald, https://www.sunherald.com
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