LIMA — Lima Rotary Club guest speaker, Allen County Sheriff Matthew Treglia, spoke with Rotarians Monday about the 2017 Sheriff’s Office report the focused on upgrades and various statistics.
As far as crime goes, Treglia said that theft has been one of the most challenging things to curtail. However, he does believe that a better law enforcement presence would deter criminals.
“I’ve made an honest effort to tell the deputies to be out in the neighborhoods and be more visible,” said Treglia. “If you look at motor vehicle thefts and burglaries, those contribute to actually being seen on the streets. Those have got to drop if we are around.”
In 2017, there were over 53,000 calls for service and over 49,000 9-1-1 calls. Treglia explained that every 9-1-1 call that is made from a cellphone in Allen County is sent directly to the Sheriff’s Office, and from there the calls may be transferred.
Another topic that Treglia addressed was the challenge of dealing with overtime. In 2017, he was able to reduce overtime costs for employees to approximately $87,000 by keeping track of those who were working and staying on track with the union contract. Also prior to Treglia becoming sheriff, the office had a challenge with sick time; however, in 2017, he was also able to cut sick time by 35 percent.
“We did that by making the working environment a little better,” he said. “We cleaned up the jail and gave them the tools and the training that they needed to follow through with things.”
In regards to the recent mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, Treglia said that if school districts wanted to arm teachers, he would like to be involved in the training. However, he would like a better police presence at the schools.
“I think the best thing to do is to work more with school resource officers and school safety,” he said. “If school districts decide to arm teachers, all I’m saying is that I would like to be involved and help with training. I don’t expect teachers to be cops and I don’t expect cops to be teachers.”
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