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First week on the job: Knox sheriff stops long shifts, addresses jail crowding

Tom Spangler said this week's start has been hectic but he's looking forward to the challenge.

Knoxville — Newly elected Knox County Sheriff Tom Spangler spread the word last week -- even before officially taking office -- that he really was ending 12-hour days for patrolmen.

The move formally takes effect Sept. 10, the new leader said Wednesday, thanks in part to the organizational work of his new Chief Deputy Bernie Lyon and others.

No longer will officers regularly be required to work 12-hour shifts that sometimes turn into 14- and 15-hour shifts, he said. They'll go back to routine eight-hour shifts, said Spangler spokeswoman Kimberly Glenn.

"If you're exhausted you're not going to be making rational decisions," he said. "I just was not going to allow that to continue."

It's just one example of what Spangler is doing and will be doing as the new sheriff. He essentially won the office in the May primary and had no opposition last month in the county general election.

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His election is widely perceived as a bid by the rank and file for a change in leadership.

On Wednesday, less than a week after formally taking office, Spangler and his staff still were trying to boot up computers and organize offices. It's hectic, but the sheriff said he relishes taking on the job.

He also wants to focus on recruiting more people to work in the main detention facility on Maloneyville Road. It's short on personnel and it's also exceeding its inmate population cap by a couple hundred people every day, figures show.

Spangler said Wednesday it appears the department is short by at least 19 people to handle corrections. Authorities are touting the ability of applicants to fill out employment forms online.

Jail crowding has become a steadily growing problem not just in Knox County but across Tennessee and the nation. The detention facility is supposed to keep no more than 1,036, according to Glenn, but hit 1,247 on Monday, 1,257 on Tuesday and 1,210 on Wednesday.

Last week's numbers generally showed the same trend. Past administrators have had to double-bunk inmates to cope with crowding.

"We're at a point that we're busting at the seams," Spangler said.

But it's not as simple as building another pod on Maloneyville Road, Spangler said. For one thing, it'd be several years before funding actually could be approved followed by design and construction.

In the meantime, the sheriff said the department has to look at creative ways to house and administer inmates.

It's not easy when the state of Tennessee has essentially ordered that convicts with a sentence of less than two years should stay in their local jail. Spangler said he's heard that edict could go up to three years.

The jail currently has 30 to 40 inmates who are supposed to be in state custody. The state, however, can't take them, he said.

The state's ongoing opioid epidemic adds to the problem. Addicts are routinely being arrested for crimes such as theft to feed their habits. They end up in jail, creating new needs as they go through withdrawal.

Addressing the opioid crisis -- including the daily overdose calls -- is going to require the help of everyone, Spangler said.

"It's not just a one-entity problem," he said.

It appears the new behavioral center off Western Avenue run by the Helen Ross McNabb Center is offering some options, he said. But it's only a 16-bed facility, according to McNabb.

More beds will be needed. Spangler said he was told Wednesday the center is running at about 85 percent of capacity. It's supposed to be a place where chronic abusers or the mentally ill can go for treatment in lieu of the traditional jail environment.

"What we've done is put a Band-aid on a giant dam gash, but we have to start somewhere," he said, adding that the state should do more to help with the mentally ill who end up on the streets so often today.

He hopes in the future to boost pay for department personnel, including those who work in the jails.

"It's hard for people to want to come into a profession where they're being attacked and they're getting paid the salary they're getting paid," Spangler said.

Spangler's predecessor Jimmy "J.J." Jones sought and secured participation in the federal government's program known as 287(g). It's a reference to flagging and tracking immigrants in the country illegally as they come into custody.

Spangler said he'll continue the department's commitment to 287(g). But he said there are misconceptions. Sheriff's deputies will not go out looking for potential undocumented residents.

They'll only alert the government if they come across such people if they're booked into Knox County custody, he said.

"We will not go knocking on doors," he said.

Spangler said he's looking forward to working with Eve Thomas, the new Knoxville Police Department chief. The county and city are at a unique moment -- gaining new leaders for both law enforcement agencies.

"Chief Thomas and I have talked on a couple of occasions and plan to sit down together," he said. "We've worked side by side on the streets. We both come from the streets."

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