Stock photo of the Sheriff’s Service SUV that will be delivered to Hopkins County Sheriff’s deputies soon.
When the three new Sheriff’s Service SUVs arrive and are put in service by Hopkins County Sheriff’s deputies, the level of law enforcement will add another layer of diversity for the county according to Sheriff-elect Lewis Tatum. The new Pursuit SUVs were approved Monday by Hopkins County Commissioners court.
Tatum told KSST News that the new SUVs will be police pursuit vehicles and therefore better prepared for the task of police work. He stated that the three new vehicles will be assigned to supervisors and members of the SWAT team to afford better preparation for immediate need. Not only will the vehicles be equipped with pursuit brakes, alternators, and other high quality parts that will take the wear and tear of police work, they will also provide better storage for equipment needed in the field. Tatum said Deputy Tanner Crump has done his homework to find the best quality, efficient storage, and lowest price allowing, as he said, “More bang for the buck.”
The SUVs will carry equipment that will provide a faster response to investigation at the crime scene, said Tatum. He said officers have stored needed items in tool boxes in the back of the current pickups used by the Sheriff’s office. He called the SUVs better equipped to store and protect the instruments and items needed for investigation in the field.
Tatum stated that the department will continue to use pickups as well. He said that the pickups assist in transporting recovered items such as those items taken in burglaries. Utilizing the pickups will mean not having to pay impound or storage fees on recovered items that would need to await a means of transport back to Hopkins County or to the Sheriff’s Office. Farm work also necessitates the use of pickups. The Sheriff’s Office recent gardening venture and the raising of hogs on county land for meals at the jail necessitate the use of pickups. Tatum did say that in the future the department will be purchasing pursuit equipped pickups as well.
