HUNTSVILLE — With topics including the latest law enforcement technology to revenue needs, the Alabama Sheriffs Association met this week for its annual Winter Technology Conference here.
An issue that is at the forefront was the impact of the loss of pistol permit revenue for sheriffs throughout the state.
“It varies from office to office, but for the most part it has definitely had an impact,” said newly inducted association President Shannon Oliver of Franklin County. “There has been a loss of revenue that we use for equipment.”
Executive Director Jimmy Lambert said the drop in revenue was in the millions of dollars.
“We went from somewhere in the neighborhood between $14 (million) to $15 million to somewhere statewide now $5 (million) to $6 million,” he said.
“It’s a devastating hit.”
Gov. Kay Ivey recently proposed a grant program to help make up for the loss of funds.
“The sheriffs’ grants will provide them with funding for training, equipment and other needs not provided by county commissions in their annual appropriations,” she said. “We are proud to support the vital work our sheriffs departments do on a daily basis.”
The association thanked Ivey and the Legislature for the funding, while hoping the money is “permanently allocated and sufficient.”
“The Alabama Sheriffs Association wishes to thank Governor Ivey and the members of the Alabama Legislature for creating this grant program to partially fill the substantial void in
our funding created by the passage of the permitless carry bill last year,” the group said in a news release. “We look forward to working with the Governor and Alabama’s leaders in the upcoming legislative session to ensure that these funds are permanently allocated and sufficient to restore our ability to fulfill our sworn duty to protect and serve all of Alabama’s citizens.”
At this week’s conference, Lambert said the sheriffs learned about the latest tools to aid law enforcement.
“At this particular conference what we did is we brought in some of the people that have the technology that can help law enforcement,” he said. “It gave our guys an opportunity to see what’s available out there now and what they can do to help us.
“We got to see several demonstrations different types of equipment that is out there. We also had a de-escalation demonstration.”
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