McDuffie County Sheriff Logan Marshall received a call from Dearing Mayor Ralph Menees on Tuesday. During Monday night's city council meeting, council member Allen Axon said the city needs extra police coverage, even if Dearing was to foot the bill.
Sheriff Marshal discussed that possibility with Mayor Menees, but he said a shortage of deputies makes that option difficult. Sheriff Marshall added that Dearing is currently being patrolled on a regular basis.
"We don't have that much crime in Dearing, but I mean the people in Dearing need to be protected like everybody else," he said. "We try to have somebody down there as much as possible."
According to Mayor Menees, the current agreement is that Dearing provides the sub-station for the Sheriff's Department. The problem now is that with only 13 of 16 deputy slots filled, the one who covers Dearing covers additional patrols as well.
"I know sometimes they've been called, and the deputy that's supposed to be out here is on the north end of the county," Mayor Menees said.
Mayor Menees also said the Sherrif's Department is doing a fine job now and that the city council's discussion was simply about supplementing the current coverage.
