SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — You pay his salary, but some say Sheriff Bill Oldham will not pay any attention to your questions.
Incidents at the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office have been piling up.
Paul Garner with Mid-South Peace & Justice said the office has been anything, but transparent lately. “There’s sort of this culture of secrecy,” he said.
Investigators arrested two Shelby County Deputies in the last two months for DUI. One of them was even accused of using his countu vehicle at the time.
This week a deputy crashed into a pole. The Sheriff’s Office thinks it was a medical emergency, but Sheriff Oldham will not talk on camera about any of it.
Garner said, “I think it sends the message that this type of behavior will be tolerated until something truly… Until action is unavoidable.”
Oldham avoids TV cameras just like he avoided County Commissioners who have questions about his multimillion dollar budget, funded with your tax money.
John Marek is part of the Citizen Law Enforcement Review Board which looks into potential issues with MPD. He understands Oldham’s hesitance. “Maybe this is something that makes him uncomfortable. This isn’t an easy issue for the police to address, and honestly, they are kind of constantly under attack right now.”
However, Marek said Oldham is still responsible to the people he serves. “The sheriff holds an elected position. So, the sheriff does have a certain amount of responsibility in responding to the public.”
Garner added, “It would serve them well to come out and get out in front of these issues, show the public that they’re taking action.
