By Rupert Howell

Agency heads from 13 Panola County law enforcement entities met yesterday for their second “Command Staff Meeting” in an effort to share information and resources in fighting crime across the county.

Meeting at the Highway Patrol District Office in Batesville, the group uses the meetings as an opportunity to share information, discuss potential problems, learn common problem areas, share intelligence and to formulate strategies, according to Panola County Sheriff Otis Griffin.

Griffin said the idea of the command staffs’ meeting was to pull law enforcement together noting that local agencies had drifted apart in the past. Griffin presides at meetings  and calls for each agency head or police chief to report on events in the area of enforcement or community.

Over two dozen officers from 13 agencies represented were told by Griffin, “We can change people’s lives, together.”

The sheriff began Thursday’s meeting reminding law enforcement officers, ”Panola County is our home. We can turn Panola County into what we want it to be.”

Following Griffin’s pep talk, Crowder Police Chief Fredrick Sanders reported that drastic improvements had occurred in his community since the last meeting with the assistance of other enforcement agencies.

Mike Davis representing Como’s police department said the most numerous complaints that his department receives currently are about deer.

Marion Pearson of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife suggested city ordinances, cutting hedgerows and to discontinue feeding deer as possible ways to address Como’s problems.

Pearson then thanked Batesville Police Department for assistance with eight to 10 headlighting cases currently in the court system.

Courtland Chief Tyler Mills noted that log trucks speeding south on Highway 51 are hard to see coming and cause a dangerous situation for those entering from Courtland’s main entrance.

Mississippi Department of Transportation officer Dennis Hopper offered assistance from his department such as weighing vehicles that appear overloaded on county roads when deputies or constables make a stop.

Batesville Chief Tony Jones reported seasonal increases in home and auto burglaries with his detective, Paul Shivers, noting that car owners’ manuals and insurance cards being the main items stolen. He further explained that information obtained from the insurance card could be used in identity theft.

MHP Interdiction Officer Bubba Bryan warned fellow lawmen that suspected stolen cars may not show up as stolen, but may later show up in the system.

Panola SO investigator Mark Whitten volunteered that he and Investigator Barry Thompson were familiar with hidden vehicle identification numbers that car thieves might overlook and would assist other officers with finding them.

Bill Magee with Panola’s Drug Task Force suggested all local officers attend a workshop on the newer ways to manufacture crystal meth. Magee offered to have knowledgeable drug enforcement officers prepare a workshop so that each officer who works in Panola County and its municipalities could attend without worry of overtime or extra days worked.

Mississippi Highway Patrol Captain Mike Wilkie addressed legislative concerns and questioned others about issues which need to be addressed in the next session of the state legislature.

Participating agencies include: Panola Sheriff’s Office, Panola County Narcotics Task Force, Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol, Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, Panola County Constables, Mississippi Department of Transportation, Fish & Wildlife Officers, Chiefs of Batesville, Sardis, Como, Crowder, Courtland,  and Pope police departments.

Sheriff Griffin noted that the October meeting had already “paid off” while hinting that more shared enforcement would soon be forthcoming stemming from the couty-wide meetings. He also reminded officers that the town of Crenshaw was currently without a chief while asking his department and others to “take up the slack.”