Sheriff covering cities without police

BEST CHOICE

So we started the process, got some applications and from those applications we chose, well I guess I chose, to bring the council the best fit that I saw for the long term for the city and that was Jackson Jones.”

Gary Peitz, West Point Mayor

WEST POINT – The Lee County Sheriff’s Department is doing a few more drive-bys in the West Point and Donnellson areas for the next two months.
There’s not a crime spree, but the communities are in the process of replacing former Police Chief Brad Roberts, who retired in April.
Since his retirement, West Point, which employees the police chief and shares services with Donnellson under a 28E agreement, has selected Jackson Jones to be his replacement.
However, Jones hasn’t been through formal police academy training and had been serving as a reserve under Roberts. Jones is the grandson of former Lee County Sheriff Buck Jones.
West Point Mayor Gary Peitz said he couldn’t get into too much about the personnel decision, but said Jones was the best candidate for the city going forward.
However, without a certified officer holding the position of chief, the reserves, including Jones and Jeff Abbey can’t patrol, Peitz said.
“We didn't have a lot of time between when he gave when he gave notice and when he actually retired,” Peitz said. “So we started the process, got some applications and from those applications we chose, well I guess I chose, to bring the council the best fit that I saw for the long term for the city and that was Jackson Jones.”
Peitz confirmed that Jones hasn’t been to the academy and the plan is to get some preliminary training out of the way and then get him to the academy in the fall.
He said Lee County Sheriff’s deputies have agreed to give some additional attention to the two rural communities but are not adding staff to patrols for the extra coverage.
Lee County Sheriff Elliott Vandenberg confirmed sheriff’s deputies were providing coverage for the communities as additional training is underway with Jones to qualify him for the academy.
“Lee County Sheriff’s Office is currently providing law enforcement coverage to the towns of West Point and Donnellson,” Vandenberg said.
“This began about a week ago. We have always assisted these communities after hours and on weekends, but we are temporarily covering full-time to help Officer Jones prepare for the academy at no charge.
“The Sheriff’s Office is happy to assist and maintains a great working relationship with both communities. At the end of the day, we are talking about Lee County citizens, and under no circumstance will the Sheriff’s Office allow anyone to go without police protection.”
Peitz said the city will appoint Jones interim chief until he can get through the 16-week police academy program.