LEON COUNTY, FL (WTXL) - Leon County deputies are defending their personal use of generators owned by the Sheriff's Office in the aftermath of Hermine.
Here is the full statement from Leon County Sheriff's Office:
In the aftermath of Hurricane Hermine, the Leon County Sheriff's Office activated our emergency staffing protocol. Our entire law enforcement operations division was divided into a day shift and night shift of uniform patrol. Many of these team members deployed prior to the sun coming up on Friday, just hours after the eye of the storm made land fall. Most of these employees and their families were impacted by the storm themselves. These deputies left their families, some with minor children, with no electricity, to honor their oath and commitment to protect and serve members of our community. These deputies went to the aid of others, without knowing the extent of the damage to their own property.
The Sheriff's office has 5 generators in our inventory. These generators, among other generators personally owned and voluntarily donated by Sheriff office employees, were, in fact, rotated among employees that were without power.
There is/was no policy for any generator to go strictly to members of Command Staff. Rather, emergency generators were rotated among Sheriff's office personnel that reported a need or requested the use of a generator. For example, a generator was taken to the residence of a deputy currently on active duty with the United States Army and deployed overseas. During the storm, his wife and children who is home alone lost power to their residence.
A member of Command Staff did receive the benefit of a generator, while his wife and several minor children were left alone while he worked many 12 hour shifts. Another member of Command Staff utilized a generator for a few hours to recharge a refrigerator and then passed the generator to another employees in need. These same employees are supplying the gas for those generators so no public funds are going to fuel the generators. Many of our employees still do not have power but continue to work long hours to ensure public safety.
The exact numbers of Sheriff's office personnel that lost power and were provided a donated generator or office owned generator is not known due to the frequency of the movement of the generators. Some of these generators were used for very short periods of time and passed to another Sheriff's office personnel family in need.
We always refer to our agency as the "Sheriff's Office Family". While we were rendering aide to the community during this devastating event, we were also taking care of our family.
If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to give me a call.
Thank You,
Lieutenant Grady Jordan
Public Information Officer
Honor Guard Commander
Leon County Sheriff's Office
office: (850) 606-3342
cell: (850) 251-7229
