Smith
Murphy – A third candidate has joined the race to replace Cherokee County Sheriff Derrick Palmer, who announced in March that he will not seek re-election next year.
Dustin Smith, assistant police chief in Murphy, hopes to return to the agency that launched his law enforcement career. Smith worked as a deputy from 2000-10 before switching agencies due to politics within the sheriff’s office at that time. He has been employed with the Murphy Police Department ever since.
“I’d like to end my career at the sheriff’s office,” Smith said, adding that he’ll likely serve the 30 years required to receive a full pension under state law. “That office has a special place in my heart.”
Smith said one of the first moves he would make as sheriff would be to re-establish law enforcement zones, where deputies are assigned around the clock. The sheriff’s office used to assign deputies to a specific zone, one of which contained a hub equipped with computers.
“If there were five zones with deputies in those zones, it would cut down on response time,” Smith said. “If officers are there around the clock, they can be proactive. They’ll see what’s happening in the community and know who’s supposed to be where.”
Smith, who survived a gunshot blast to the chest as a rookie deputy, said zones also would improve officers’ safety.
“There would at least be five deputies out in their zones, so you wouldn’t have a deputy too far from the others when something happens,” he said. “When I was shot, an Andrews police officer was the closest to me.”
Additionally, Smith wants to re-establish a multi-agency narcotics unit that would include deputies from Cherokee, Clay, Graham and Macon counties. Smith used to be assigned to such a unit during his time with the sheriff’s office. He said the agencies involved established a regional intelligence database, which helped them share information faster, but the unit dissolved due to lack of funding.
“If you’re concentrating just on small things, it’s hard to get the big picture done,” Smith said. “Our crime doesn’t stop at county lines, so we need to work with other counties. This needs to be done if we’re going to get to a point where we’re making any ground on the enforcement actions we’re taking.”
Smith, whose 14-year-old son is wheelchair-bound with muscular dystrophy, also would aim to increase community policing efforts through initiatives such as Shop with a Cop and Coffee with a Cop. He believes those interactions with the community help police remain compassionate toward others.
“Our job is more than just the enforcement process. We need to build that relationship, build that trust with the community,” he said, adding that these types of events help kids see police in a different light and have been highly educational in the past. “We learned a lot from the community, and the community learned a lot from us.”