Madison Co. sheriff requests more money for department

MADISON COUNTY, AL (WAFF) - The Madison County sheriff says the County Commission needs to give them more money.

He referenced the LaFayette, Louisiana movie theater shootings during his plea Friday saying his staff could not adequately respond to an incident similar to that here.

Sheriff Blake Dorning says increasing the sales tax from 5.5 percent to 6 percent would solve his budget and staffing problems.

The sheriff says the money would add new deputies to the force, recruit new school resource officers, and increase their salaries.

He said he wants the commission to put as much of an emphasis on public safety as they do development and growth because they go hand in hand. He laid out a worst case scenario for the commission to explain why the funding is needed.

"We have a Walmart supercenter, we have an active shooter in there on a Saturday afternoon, the most deputies that we would have that could get there within a 5 minute period, would be maybe 4," Dorning said. "As we develop retail space, we understand those become targets. Any place where a large number of people gather becomes a target and we have to prepare ourselves and look forward to understand what will our needs be."

The commission has not yet made a decision about the department's funding.

We will let you know more as soon as we receive updates. Check back on WAFF.com.

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