Whitley County Sheriff’s Department receives new vests and vehicles to enhance safety

The Whitley County Sheriff’s Department has received new bulletproof vests, provided by the United States Deputy Sheriff’s Association, and new vehicles, courtesy of the Whitley County Fiscal Court, to ensure safety and comfort.

Sheriff Bill Elliotte, recently elected and placed in office January of this year, provides insight on the vests and vehicles they were given.

Deputies have received five Dodge Ram 1500 pickups. They have also received four new equipped Dodge Durango’s.

The older vehicles were used to transport prisoners to different parts of the state, juveniles to juvenile detention centers, and mental health patients to different hospitals.

These vehicles averaged between 35,000-40,000 miles a month across the team.

The vehicles, not including seven of them, were well over 100,000 miles, and a few over 200,000 miles.

Elliotte said that the old vehicles were a big safety issue for officers. Many cars needed repairs due to maintenance negligence. Elliotte took notice of this and ensured a plan for strict maintenance repairs on the vehicles, which extended the lifeline of their cars, saving money in the process.

This was a good thing because miles and repairs were adding up and becoming expensive.

“When you are responding to an emergency call, and your vehicle has 150,000 miles on it, that could be the difference between life and death,” Elliotte said.

The officers are blessed to have the upgrade and feel very excited and pleased, he added.

With this update, the officers can now go on patrol and answer complaints with the proper equipment.

So far, there haven’t been any limitations with the upgrade in vehicles. The deputies have been able to attend to their responsibilities without issue.

Elliotte said that there has been a big change in how they are responding to calls.

On the other hand, Elliotte was excited to discuss the new ballistic bulletproof vests.

There are four vests in total so far. They are waiting on grants to receive more vests for the whole unit. The old vests are outdated and worn out from everyday use.

The expiration date on a vest is five years and they were expired. There are still deputies currently wearing expired vests, but they are trying to get funding to replace them.

In contrast to the old vests, the new vests are thinner which provides more comfort. They are also more reliable.

The new vests are optional to wear.

Elliotte said that the new vests give the officers peace due to reliability and comfort. The officers that received them are grateful.

“We pledge and promise to do the right thing and use the equipment in the way it was designed to be used,” he added.