Madison County Sheriffs Office adding deputies, 49 new vehicles

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - Now hiring! The Madison County Sheriff’s Office wants to add more deputies to its department. Deputies will also soon be getting 49 new patrol cars.

There are currently 170 Madison County Sheriff Deputies who respond to accidents and crimes. With more homes being built, there’s a need for more law enforcement.

“Right now it’s four to seven, maybe 10 that we’ll look to hire right now,” said Madison County Sheriff Spokesman Brent Patterson.

Currently, there are about 730 people in the county, for every deputy. Members of the Madison County Commission want to improve the ratio.

“We have a very large county, our deputies patrol unincorporated but they also serve the cities here in Madison County, when they’re in need,” said Chairman Dale Strong.

Another number commissioners are worried about is the high mileage on each patrol car.

“The enormous mileage issues that we’ve had with these vehicles, and older Crown Victoria’s that are not even in circulation anymore,” said Brent Patterson.

Madison County Commissioners have agreed to write a big check, and replace the older cars. They’ll spend more than $2 million.

“We got 19 that are currently being prepared to go on the streets and we got another 30 that will be bid real soon. Those vehicles cost about $34,900 a piece. You add another $20,000 to outfit the vehicle with lights, the radio, the computers, the cage,” said Strong.

Deputies say they need a large fleet, because less than 35 years ago, they only had a couple of cars.

“Back in 1991 when I went to work for the sheriff’s office, we only had maybe 10 vehicles in the entire department. Each shift used those 10 vehicles, so, during that time, we put 200 to 300 miles on each vehicle,” said Patterson.

The fleet of new vehicles is expected to arrive soon.

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