Sheriff Griffin

On Monday night, March 21,the Youth Leadership class of the Chamber of Commerce visited the Decatur County Sheriff Department.
A variety of topics were presented to the group including duties of
the Sheriff and Sheriff's Office, types of crimes including narcotics,
teenage driving issues and the introduced of Bear, the K-9 deputy, to the group.Sheriff Griffin welcomed the class and explained his duties.

During the course of the night, the class learned about various types of crimes, misconceptions concerning those crimes and penalties for them. Chip Nix showed pictures of just what the effects from the use of narcotics, particularly met amphetamine, has on the lives(and appearance) of the users.
Victor Strickland spoke on the various ways that evidence is used to identify offenders. Cecilia Willis talked to the teens about the importance of wearing their seatbelts, the dangers of drinking and driving and treated them to a practical exercise where they learned first hand how drinking alcohol can impair their abilities.

Four of the youth were kind enough to volunteer to wear goggles called 'fatal vision'.  'Fatal vision' goggles simulate various levels of impairment and, while wearing the goggles, the volunteers
were asked to perform some simple tasks and found out just how
difficult drinking alcohol would make those tasks.

Wrapping up the evening, the class went outside where Bear,
 the latest addition to the Sheriff's Office showed them what he could do. While it was a short demonstration, everyone learned just how effective Bear is in detecting drugs and protecting his handler.

There was a lot of interest shown by the youth on the various topics presented and no one seemed to want to leave. And in true form of our Sheriff Department, the staff gave them all the time and information these future leaders wanted.