Baldwin County Sheriff recruiting volunteers for ‘sheriff’s posse’
MILLEDGEVILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Baldwin County Sheriff Bill Massee says he wants the entire county to be prepared in the case of an emergency.
The top cop posted a request on Facebook last week asking citizens to sign up for a “sheriff’s posse.”
Its goal to assist public safety personnel during the time of an emergency.
“We are especially weak in manpower numbers and in the event of a major catastrophe we would have to call on our community for assistance,” Massee posted on Facebook.
When the cause gets too big, Sheriff Massee says he isn’t afraid of asking for a little help.
“It would take all of our public safety personnel to respond to the scene,” Massee said.
As the seasons change, the top cop is concerned about major weather events crippling the county.
“Our jail was on a generator for 10 days, two weeks. Our road departments, our deputies, our firefighters, our volunteers literally kept this county operable,” he said.
He’s asking for citizen volunteers to join a ‘sheriff’s posse’ — requesting everything from trained nurses and doctors to residents who own boats and four-wheelers.
“If we did have to evacuate or have people get out of some low-lying communities, we’d like people with four-wheel drive trucks and people with boats to be able to help us,” Massee said.
Since sending out a post on social media, Massee says feedback has been overwhelming.
“I’ve had over 300 emails from people wanting the assist our public safety community,” he said.
Several residents say they think it’s a great idea, while others are curious why the sheriff is asking for the public’s help.
Some saying the posse could potentially down the wrong path.
“We’re not looking for gunslingers. We’re not looking for people to get into any kind of dramatic situation. We’re looking for people to back up and help law enforcement and firefighters in their role and give us assistance in the community,” Massee said.
He says he wants the community to be prepared and he’s confident the community is up to the task.
“The definition of posse comitatus is power of the community and from what I’ve seen with us reaching out to get people to help us, we have a powerful community.”
The sheriff’s posse is a volunteer-only group. Sheriff Massee plans on the first meeting in January.
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