Pubdate: Tue, 07 Sep 2004
Source: Johnson City Press (TN)
Copyright: 2004 Johnson City Press
Contact:  http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1983
Author: Ron Scalf, Bureau
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

DRUG BUSTS HELPING ERWIN OFFICIALS BUY EQUIPMENT, IMPROVE FACILITIES

ERWIN - Armed with money from drug deals gone bad, Unicoi County Sheriff 
Kent Harris has added a fleet of new cruisers, renovated a dilapidated 
vacant building downtown and beefed up security at the Unicoi County 
Sheriff's Department at a cost of more than $150,000. "We've purchased 
seven relatively new vehicles for the Unicoi County Sheriff's Department," 
Harris said Friday. "We had no storage to place items securely in from 
drug-bust proceeds and from seizures or items located from break-ins, so we 
are in the process of renovating the old Rule/Brummett Automobile Company 
building on Church Avenue near the (Unicoi County) jail."

Harris has renovated offices, rewired the sheriff's department and added 
bullet-proof glass, "all at the expense of drug dealers," Harris said. "Why 
not let the drug dealers and the criminals pay for all this instead of the 
law abiding citizens of Unicoi County?"

Replacing the vehicles "was more about safety than anything else," he said. 
"When I came into office we had only three cars with less than 100,000 
miles on them. We now have 12 cruisers with the majority having less than 
50,000 miles on them."

Built in the 1940s, the new storage building, "was an eyesore in downtown 
Erwin. Most people wanted the county to tear it down. We put a new roof on 
it and we are renovating it with the help of inmate labor and it will fit 
our needs for years to come," Harris said. "We are going to add new garage 
doors and then we"ll have a secure storage building to house confiscated 
items, cars and equipment."

The sheriff's department recently was awarded $144,000 from proceeds of the 
sale of a drug house where a marijuana manufacturing business was being 
processed on Pete Creek near the North Carolina state line.

Other improvements to the department and the purchase of other new vehicles 
could happen in the future, Harris said. "With proceeds from drug dealers 
and criminals," he said.
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