Captain without a ship

Captain Bobby Simmons is in charge of nothing at the Shelby County Sheriff's Office today. He has been in this status since running afoul of Sheriff Mark Luttrell last month. It seems Captain Simmons didn't say "yessuh boss" when he should have and now, instead of having a department vehicle and being assigned to the detective bureau, he has been assigned to oversee nothing. Initially, he was told to turn his car in and drive to the substation where he would be assigned to the (commander's whipping post) report center. This position was phased out last week and was previously commanded by Inspector Judy Hughes, another whipping post denizen. Captain Simmons bumped Inspector Hughes out of the slot because he is the current employee in the Sheriff's sights. Captain Simmons says he has been told verbally that he is to be over the garage, but even though he has asked for his assignment in writing, nothing has arrived in the mail. Until then, he is in limbo, because if it isn't in writing, it doesn't exist. Apparently, the chiefs are reluctant to document their error. Until, they wake up and quit playing politics, Captain Simmons' considerable law enforcement experience will have to be wasted on pushing paper at the garage.


Meanwhile back to Inspector Hughes. . . She was transferred to the courts, but somehow she is still being punished, because she reports to an office out near the Corrections Center. The closest court to her would be one in either Bartlett or Germantown, neither of which has anything to do with the Sheriff's Office.

It is my understanding that Captain Simmons and Inspector Hughes have been in contact with an attorney, especially after Burlington RR V. White was handed down last month!

Luttrell ran on a platform of "time for change", but as you can see, he fits in very well with the good old boy network. This is the same pathetic treatment deputies have been subjected to since at least 1975, when I hired in. When will a Sheriff learn that they don't own the SCSO? When will Mark let the officers who know what it means to be a cop do their jobs without his pettiness getting in the way of fighting crime?