Sheriff Jim Hammond

Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond says he’ll pull his deputies out of areas annexed by Chattanooga and bolster patrols in unincorporated areas.

“I traditionally do not allocate resources to areas served by other jurisdictions,” Sheriff Hammond said.

The county’s population has grown significantly around Soddy-Daisy and Ooltewah, and Sheriff Hammond said he’d probably move the patrol deputies into those areas.

City officers have assumed responsibility for areas that already have been annexed.

Hamilton County residents filed a second lawsuit Thursday in an effort to stop annexation east of Morris Hill Road in East Brainerd, a commercial area off Hunter Road in Ooltewah and other areas near Interstate 75.

Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield has said the lawsuits only delay the inevitable.

The sheriff’s office divides its patrols into east and west sectors split by the Tennessee River. The sheriff estimated about five officers from each side would be moved upon annexation.

Annexation would not affect how employees in the office’s civil process, narcotics and fugitive departments perform their jobs, since those divisions work cases that cross jurisdictional lines, Sheriff Hammond said. It also would not affect jurisdiction because the sheriff has a responsibility for the entire county and the annexed areas remain part of the county, he said.

And the sheriff’s office would continue to respond as back-up anytime city officers needed assistance, he said.

Even with patrol deputies moving, the sheriff’s office staffing levels would remain short by at least 10 officers, Sheriff Hammond said. Twenty more deputies would be ideal, he said.

“(Adding officers to patrol) would be a blessing,” the sheriff said. “It still won’t cover our shortfall.”

But the shortage of deputies doesn’t mean the sheriff’s office can’t handle the call load in the county, he insisted, and the county adequately is covered by deputies. He said he routinely hears from county residences about the quick response times and positive experiences with deputies.

Ken Carey, who lives in the proposed annexation area of Laurel Cove, said he expects law enforcement response times to increase when the area is covered by city officers because the police department is not hiring new officers to fill the annexed areas.

There simply are not enough city officers to do routine patrols through the neighborhood to maintain safety and a sense of security among residents, Mr. Carey said.

“I see that sheriff’s car come through my subdivision twice a day at various times of the day,” he said. “I do not expect that same kind of service level from Chattanooga.”

In the areas that already have been annexed, dispatches from 911 have not been affected by the changes because, instead of dispatching calls to county officers, they are dispatched to city officers.

The areas in general receive few calls for service, said Don Allen, chairman of the Hamilton County 911 Emergency Communications board.

Since the communications district unification in January, 911 operators receive calls from all areas of Hamilton County before passing information along to the appropriate dispatcher. That dispatcher then routes calls to police officers, sheriff’s deputies, EMTs or firefighters.

“For 911, it shouldn’t be any problem at all because we’re dispatching (to the proposed annexed areas) anyway, it’s just a different agency” that will respond, Mr. Allen said.

AREAS ALREADY ANNEXED

* Cummings Cove

* Enterprise South

* Commercial area near Ooltewah