Sheriff endorses institute

By DAN KEGLEY/Staff

County residents are receiving a mailing from the Virginia Sheriff’s Institute that includes a letter with Smyth County Sheriff David Bradley’s name at the top. Bradley is joining other sheriffs across the state to help the non-profit institute raise money that supports public safety and criminal justice.
The mailing urges the recipient to make a contribution to become an associate member of the Richmond-based VSI. Twenty dollars is suggested for individuals, because of a $5 discount off the regular associate membership dues level. Business memberships are $40.
A separate release from VSI also personalized with Bradley’s name said the money “provides critically important technical resources, training and support on key criminal justice issues.” Dues, the release said, support training and education for sheriffs and deputies and sponsor college and university scholarships.
“The Virginia Sheriffs’ Scholarship program was established to provide an opportunity for young people across Virginia to pursue an educational curriculum in criminal justice,” its Web site said. “Accordingly, the Board of Directors has established the application process for students to receive scholarships to assist in their educational endeavors. The scholarships are available only to students in jurisdictions where sheriffs participated in the scholarship fund-raising efforts. This program is limited to students attending Virginia colleges and universities.”
Bradley said Monday his department doesn’t receive money from VSI, but it pays for training materials.
“For instance when I go for updates on the code, it pays for the materials” like notebooks and other printed matter. “Otherwise, I’d have to pay for it.”
That’s a savings to Smyth County that budgets annually for its sheriff’s department, but Bradley could not put an estimate on how much of a savings it is.
“It saves some,” he said. “That’s why I endorse it. It’s a plus for us.”
“With government funding becoming increasingly difficult to secure, the associate membership drive has taken on greater importance than ever before,” the release said.
Bradley said other organizations raise money in the name of law enforcement, but VSI is the only one “that benefits us.”
In 1981, the Virginia Sheriffs Association created VSI, registered it with the Virginia Office of Consumer Affairs, the VSI Web site said. VSI is “recognized as a reputable charitable organization by the Virginia Better Business Bureau.”
The association, established in 1933, is “a professional trade organization representing the Virginia sheriffs and their deputies by providing a forum for the exchange of professional ideas and information. VSA is the only voice to the Virginia General Assembly representing the interests of sheriffs and their deputies. VSA also promotes any and all efforts to enhance law and order and the suppression of crime,” the VSA Web site said.
Smyth County is part of the association’s Region I, and Washington County Sheriff Fred Newman is regional director.