SO Substation

I thought Pennington gave McMillian the money for that station.

I thought Pennington gave the money for the hangar, at least I think there is a plaque out there indicating that.

I thought Pennington gave the money for the hangar, at least I think there is a plaque out there indicating that.

Not sure. Just what I had always heard. He gave so much money to various projects down there.

I had to drive to Pensacola to get some sort of a license a few years ago from the State. I thought that was pretty bad considering Ft. Walton and PC have pretty good populations. I would have gladly only driven 31 miles instead of the 95 I had to drive.

wrobert, you well know two wrongs don't make a right. It is ludicrous for us to have the population we have this time of year and literally law enforcement is 31 miles away. I know deputies patrol, but how often? I haven't seen one since the one that came to our walkover on a complaint from Bella Vita about someone looking through binoculars at their units. It was me and a board member looking at deteriorating flashing on the underside of their roof. The point is we don't see much of a Sheriff's presence on Blue Mt. Beach. I, for one, would like to see more of one since it is a fact the majority of the taxes collected in this county come from South of the bay.

Realizing the South end of our County pays the lions share of taxes does not necessarily mean the County does not have just as much of a responsibility to the rest of it. There are numerous folks out there who want taxes reduced and it will hit all divisions, and sub divisions of the County, which may a require a change in a way service is delivered. Whether this is the case with the closing of the sub station, I don't know.

I find it interesting the the South end of the county provides 89.1% of the revenue, but only has a 40% say in how that money is spent. I feel like the "tax watchdogs" are pulling the wool over our eyes. Why are we in the South expected to be taxed without representation? Was any of this brought up at the local tea party? I doubt it.

The 2010 census is coming up and that means that the county can redistrict. Why do I get the distinct impression that this is consider some sort of anarchy by the North end?

I would venture a guess that when redistricting comes SoWal will not have a solid 40% representation. Oh wait, do we really have that now?

I find it interesting the the South end of the county provides 89.1% of the revenue, but only has a 40% say in how that money is spent. I feel like the "tax watchdogs" are pulling the wool over our eyes. Why are we in the South expected to be taxed without representation? Was any of this brought up at the local tea party? I doubt it.

The 2010 census is coming up and that means that the county can redistrict. Why do I get the distinct impression that this is consider some sort of anarchy by the North end?

You do realize that we do not operate under a democracy?

wrobert, you well know two wrongs don't make a right. It is ludicrous for us to have the population we have this time of year and literally law enforcement is 31 miles away. I know deputies patrol, but how often? I haven't seen one since the one that came to our walkover on a complaint from Bella Vita about someone looking through binoculars at their units. It was me and a board member looking at deteriorating flashing on the underside of their roof. The point is we don't see much of a Sheriff's presence on Blue Mt. Beach. I, for one, would like to see more of one since it is a fact the majority of the taxes collected in this county come from South of the bay.

No a matter of wrongs making a right. It is a matter of what level of service that people are willing to pay for. I am still waiting to hear back from anyone that has spoken to the Sheriff about their concerns and see what his future plans are. I would only hope that law enforcement is being deployed in some matter other than sending more to the places that pay the most taxes. I always though that sort of thing would be based on where the most crime was occurring.

No a matter of wrongs making a right. It is a matter of what level of service that people are willing to pay for. I am still waiting to hear back from anyone that has spoken to the Sheriff about their concerns and see what his future plans are. I would only hope that law enforcement is being deployed in some matter other than sending more to the places that pay the most taxes. I always though that sort of thing would be based on where the most crime was occurring.

I sent an email to the Sheriff--could not find an address for a Public Information Officer--email came back as "invalid address" the Sheriff's website is "under construction" so I guess the emails don't work

Sent an email to Chris Mitchell the Couty PIO to see if he could shed any light; so far no answer.

I sent an email to the Sheriff--could not find an address for a Public Information Officer--email came back as "invalid address" the Sheriff's website is "under construction" so I guess the emails don't work

Sent an email to Chris Mitchell the Couty PIO to see if he could shed any light; so far no answer.

Are you that shocked on a Friday afternoon? Good luck if you ever get a response from Chris Mitchell.

I sent an email to the Sheriff--could not find an address for a Public Information Officer--email came back as "invalid address" the Sheriff's website is "under construction" so I guess the emails don't work

Sent an email to Chris Mitchell the Couty PIO to see if he could shed any light; so far no answer.

Did you send it to madkinson@waltonso.org? I think his secretary is tgodwin@waltonso.org. sheriff@waltonso.org also might get to him. Chris Mitchell said that the SO website is suppose to be online next month at a meeting I attended on Thursday.

Are you that shocked on a Friday afternoon? Good luck if you ever get a response from Chris Mitchell.

Well, I actually did get a response from Chris: he said he would look into and get back to me on Monday.:;-);-)

Open

As I understand it, the Substation will be open everyday, from 8am to 5pm to "serve our needs". I think it should be staffed 24/7. Yes, deputies have access to the building, but someone travelling through town or just passing by should have a safe building to go into and report an incident or crime.

Many people also use the local police/sheriffs offices to do a child exchange, when there is visitation, etc.

SoWal pays a lot of $$$ to this county, we deserve better service.

As I understand it, the Substation will be open everyday, from 8am to 5pm to "serve our needs". I think it should be staffed 24/7. Yes, deputies have access to the building, but someone travelling through town or just passing by should have a safe building to go into and report an incident or crime.

Many people also use the local police/sheriffs offices to do a child exchange, when there is visitation, etc.

SoWal pays a lot of $$$ to this county, we deserve better service.

So which is it, is it closed or is it open 8-5? If it is open during business hours and you can get the usual services, then that would be OK. If it is closed and I am required to drive to DFS to get a report or fingerprinting, etc, then that is unacceptable. 24/7 office hours are not realistic. No other government office maintains such hours.

I thought Pennington gave McMillian the money for that station.

I don't care where the money came from to build it, it still belongs to the taxpayers now and is supposed to be used to provide service.

So...Per my earlier post as to my 2:30ish visit to the SO substation and meeting with a deputy last Friday. He told me things were very busy (which I totally understood), but assured me he would check into my complaint and give me a call on Saturday. I thanked him and went on my way. Here I am one week later and no phone call, no response and the problem continues. I am a patient person for the most part, however I am not feeling the love.

In reference to the sustation being closed. I am very famaliar with Walton County though I do not currently reside there. I even know more than the average person on how the sheriffs office operates. I was told that all of Adkinson's command staff do not live in Walton County but Okaloosa County. I do not know this to be the truth maybe someone can find out.
If it is true this could be the reason the sub is now closed. If the guys calling the shots do not live in Walton County they might not have as much interest as the guys from Walton County.
I love Walton County and visiting the beautiful beaches. If am there on vacatio it will be nice to have law enforcement availible. The citizens of Walton county were relentless on Johnson about having emloyees that lived in Alabama, regardless, if you dont live in the county you just are not as interested when it comes to issues such as the sub. Johnson was ran out of town but never in a million years would have neglected the south end or any other part of the county. The voters just picked another sheriff who is a little better at pulling off the same stunts he's just better at hiding them. I dont know. I was wanted to retire in south Walton but I just don't know.

As I understand it, the Substation will be open everyday, from 8am to 5pm to "serve our needs". I think it should be staffed 24/7. Yes, deputies have access to the building, but someone travelling through town or just passing by should have a safe building to go into and report an incident or crime.

Many people also use the local police/sheriffs offices to do a child exchange, when there is visitation, etc.

SoWal pays a lot of $$$ to this county, we deserve better service.

Open 8-5 every day seems more than reasonable to me - those are longer hours than all the other government buildings/services.

As far as stopping by to report a crime outside those hours, the SWFD has a 911 phone by its front door for after hours use. Does the Substation have one too?

Many people who work in Walton County don't live in Walton County, so I don't think that is the reason for the substation being closed.

Open 8-5 every day seems more than reasonable to me - those are longer hours than all the other government buildings/services.

As far as stopping by to report a crime outside those hours, the SWFD has a 911 phone by its front door for after hours use. Does the Substation have one too?

Many people who work in Walton County don't live in Walton County, so I don't think that is the reason for the substation being closed.

Maybe I am wrong but I think it is open 7 days a week till 7 at night.

All of his command staff do not live in Okaloosa County. I have been to the homes of three of them, and did so without crossing a county line. One of them lives just a couple or so miles from my house.

I went there again on Monday and it was CLOSED and i picked up the phone and it was answered by a dispatcher in the north. They said the Substation was CLOSED to the public and ask what i needed and i told them i needed a report and was told to go to DFS to get it.

I spoke with Tammy in the Sherrif's office this morning--she called in response to the inquiry I had made to Chris Mitchell last Friday afternoon.

The SO does not presently have a Public Information Officer, but they are recruiting for one.

Tammy says the Sub-station is open; it had been closed temporarily because of staffing issues. Apparently, they rearranged some staff because of the homicide investigation that is ongoing and the fact that they are shorthanded because of staff being called to active military duty.

She says that the Sub-station is open for all the business that has always been conducted there except for Dispatch. That function has been moved to the DFS office, but the 267-2000 number will go directly to Dispatch and no member of the public should be inconvenienced because the office is in DFS, the deputies who will respond are in SoWalton.

I specifically asked her about Fingerprinting--she said that is still available at the Annex; and one is still able to pick up accident reports, etc.

I had also asked Gwen Break at The Sun to check into the issue; Tammy said that both she and the sheriff had given an interview to The Sun yesterday so all the information should be in this week's edition.

During the summer Tammy said the Annex would be open extended hours...check the newspaper article for specifics; I did not write it all down as I was in my car when I was talking with her.

So., I am not sure where the confusion lies in all of this--but, it appears that the official statement is that the Sub-station is open for business as usual and will be open even longer hours during the peak summer months.

Hope this helps.

Thank you. When i went to the subststion there was NO one there and i used the phone and the dispatcher told me i had to go to DFS as they had closed that office. I think there was a lack of communication with in the sheriffs office.

Considering the double digit unemployment in many counties, one would think it would be rather easy to fill empty positions.

Considering the double digit unemployment in many counties, one would think it would be rather easy to fill empty positions.

Sheriff's Deputy is not a job you just fill with any yahoo that can write their name on a job application and wants a government issued gun. I'd much rather go with a shortage while competent, qualified, and eligible employees are found.

I was talking about administrative staff and a public information officer - though since many communities are making cutbacks due to budgetary shortfalls, a competent and experienced deputy should be easier to find as well.