Lock it or lose it

By Brooks Taylor, Mt. Pleasant News

Lock it!

That?s the advice of Henry County Sheriff Rich McNamee. During the department head meeting Thursday with the Henry County Board of Supervisors, the law enforcement official said there has been a rash of building and vehicle burglaries in the county during the past several weeks.

?We?ve had at least seven break-ins in the last two weeks,? he said. He added that the burglaries have been in both buildings and vehicles. ?Of the burglaries we had recently, in all of them the doors have been unlocked.

?I would advise residents to make sure to lock their buildings and vehicles when not in use,? he continued. ?Also, remove any obvious valuables, such as iPads, iPods, cellphones, firearms, jewelry and loose change, etc. from view.? He said the aforementioned items have topped the list of items stolen.

The burglaries began in county municipalities and now are spreading into rural areas, McNamee related. Some of the recent break-ins have been in the Oakland Mills area and all occurred between 12:45 a.m. to 2 a.m.

McNamee also said that four new reserve deputies have nearly completed their training. The addition of the four new reserves will bring the roster to nine. The authorized reserve deputy strength for the county is 15, he said, adding that anyone who wants to become a reserve deputy should contact the sheriff?s office.

Wednesday morning?s jail census was 21, which is down from the 30-plus inmates the facility housed several days last week. He said that in September through October of 2016, the average inmate count was between 19 and 24.

Thus far this year, his office has received 3,619 calls. In 2016, the office had over 24,000 calls.

In a related matter, Tammy Mulford, office manager of the county attorney?s office, said the Henry County Attorney staff has been appointed as the special prosecutor for about 25 cases in Lee County due to conflicts of interest of the Lee County legal staff.

Supervisors also passed the wage increases and (health) insurance resolution for fiscal year 2018. All county elected and non-elected employees, except the supervisors, will receive a 4.5 percent salary increase on July 1. The supervisors will receive a 1-percent raise.

?The sheriff?s department union employees received a 4.5-percent increase and we often mirror that,? Supervisor Gary See said.

Beginning July 1, those county employees opting for the family health-insurance plan will pay 15 percent of the difference between the fully paid single plan and the family plan. Currently, employees pay 13 percent of the difference. Under the new arrangement, county employees with the family plan will pay an additional $27.88 per month. Seventy-one county employees have the family plan and 11 employees have single coverage.

The board of supervisors meets again Tuesday, March 7, at 9 a.m., in the courthouse.