Tensions flare over investigator office relocation

West says office is not moving into former Town Hall building

Tensions flared during a June 24 Lowndes County Commission meeting as elected officials debated relocating the sheriff’s investigators’ office.

The debate began when District 1 Commissioner Robert Harris asked Lowndes County Sheriff Chris West why the investigators’ office had not moved to its proposed new location in the former Hayneville Town Hall building on East Lafayette Street.

“The county voted to do away with the (investigators’) building out there because of the issue of the mold and mildew and water getting into facilities,” Harris said. “And, there was a time span that was given (for compliance). I see that your investigators are still (in the leaky building). Can you tell me why they are still there?”

“We’re not moving yet,” West said. When Harris asked why the move had not been completed, West responded, “I said they are not moving.”

Investigators currently occupy part of a building at 504 Alabama Highway 21 in Hayneville. Multiple leaks, over time, present a challenge for officers and have caused ceiling damage and mold growth within the building. Mitigation experts with ServPro have suggested the damage is beyond repair and recommend demolishing the structure.

Commissioners voted to vacate the Highway 21 building during a March 11 meeting. On March 19, County Administrator Jacquelyn Thomas emailed West on behalf of commissioners directing the sheriff to relocate investigators to the former Hayneville Town Hall within 30 days.

According to West, the former Town Hall building is unsuitable for investigators’ use. He said insufficient office space, only one restroom and no space suited to secure evidence are among many reasons the building will not work for the department.

In addition to the building’s space limitations, West said his investigators would have to share the building with the Organized Community Action Program (OCAP). Doing so, he noted, would endanger families and elderly citizens seeking OCAP services by placing them near sex offenders, crime suspects and other dangerous people investigators work with on a regular basis.

Investigators share the current building with OCAP, where officers are separated by a block wall. Separate entrances on opposite sides of the facility allow both agencies to work without contact between OCAP clients and subjects the investigators interview.

“We interview victims of crimes and rapes,” West said. “We have children who are victims of sex crimes and we see people who are victims of robberies and assaults. We (see) sex offenders who check in monthly and they can’t even be around children. A lot of OCAP clients bring small children. Because the sheriff’s office won’t agree to put sex offenders and victims in contact with OCAP, the email is (the commissioner’s) way of forcing us to comply.”

The June 24 debate reached a boiling point when Harris, who said he was concerned about employees and citizens being exposed to mold in the current location, made a motion to terminate electricity service at the offices on Highway 21. Commissioners neither seconded nor voted on the motion as the exchange continued.

“I wish you would,” West responded. “This is a law enforcement building. Turn it off, we’re going to have a problem.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Harris said.

“It will matter, I promise you,” West said. “Your Black ass (will) sit in jail.”

Harris responded, “I’m from the same school you are,” and West countered, “Come on out here. Come on. Let’s see.

“This is unnecessary. You’re going to cut off (electricity to) the building for people that see about assaulted and raped children, homicides in the streets of Mosses. Is that what you want to do? You’re a silly man, a silly man… . You’re going to stop law enforcement. You got the letter from the Alabama Sheriff’s Association. Please cut the power off.”

Commission Chairman Charlie King, Jr. asked West whether the former Town Hall, if renovated for the sheriff’s use, would work. West cited a March 27 letter from Alabama Sheriff’s Association attorney Randall Hillman that outlined the importance of investigative secrecy and privacy based on legal requirements from federal and state agencies.

The attorney’s letter stated, in part, that West had “related some serious concerns about the layout of the facility and he is rightfully worried that his investigators will have no privacy to perform their investigative functions as law enforcement officers if they are located in the currently proposed space…

“Any such interview should be done only in a controlled and private space. Many sex crime victims are children who are already gravely concerned about what has been done to them and are afraid of the ramifications of what else could happen if they ‘tell what happened.’ Forcing them to be interviewed in an uncontrolled and non-private environment is harmful to the investigation and also to the child.”

West, visibly upset by the exchange with Harris, described why the suggested building would not support investigator operations.

“That building is far too small,” West said. “I know (the space) is divided by a thin partition or wall, but you’ve got, there’s senior citizens, there’s kids (who come in). I can’t tell you the (number of) days where fights break out, in the office, all the time. So, we’re going to have a building set up, but we got ‘Miss Annie’ who’s 95 years old, and some people (are) fighting over here next door. That’s what we’re doing.”

Further discussion resulted in West calling Harris “stupid.” The commissioner replied, “You are just as stupid as I am.”

King requested the meeting return to order, reminding both officials of their responsibility.

“I wish we could just work together,” King said. “You are the high law (enforcement) for the county; you got a commissioner, and y’all are acting like little children.”