BELLE — As second in command at the Maries County Sheriff’s Office, Chief Deputy Scott John, 55, of Vichy, has used the last three years to learn how to supervise the day-to-day operations under the tutelage of 16-year law enforcement veteran Chris Heitman.

During Heitman’s absences, John was tasked with managing the department while checking in with the sheriff and involving the community.

“The first thing I learned as a law enforcement officer in Maries County is the amount of criminal activity that goes on in Maries County,” John said. “It was surprising to me.”

While the public encourages transparency, even on occasion behind anonymity, John said he draws the line at violating the victim’s privacy. 

Juggling Accountability with Victim Privacy

Last December, a Facebook page called Maries Countians for Accountability purported that it encouraged transparency of local politicians. Under this name, the owner of the page did not post who they were, claiming to be a third party. All three sheriff’s candidates were friends with the page. However, when the page changed its name in June to Missing Information and posted that the page owner was Dana Thompson, the content became more direct.

“When the page posted some things about me and I posted my side of the story, my comments were deleted and I was blocked,” John said. “Right after the name was changed, this occurred. I believe that page has nothing to do with accountability, and has been a strategic part of a smear campaign.”

On occasion, the page has called for transparency that would violate the privacy of the victims or court orders. John shared that there are some things the sheriff’s office can’t share. If it is something that will violate a victim’s privacy, they won’t share.

“Sharing confidential information about a victim to anyone outside of the sheriff’s office is a potential termination event,” John said. “Confidentiality is of the utmost importance inside a law enforcement agency. Not just to protect the victim and the public, but to protect the law enforcement officer. If people are privy to investigations, an officer can be at risk. If the victim’s information is released, it puts the victim in danger of retaliation from the (perpetrator) or the (perpetrator’s) family. A confidentiality breach is absolutely unacceptable in my opinion.”

Social Media Policies

John said if he is elected sheriff he plans to release a weekly activity report to the community through social media or print media.

“The task will go to the clerk, letting the community know what activities we’ve been up to and the arrests that have been made,” John said.

Heitman was one of the first law enforcement agencies to begin using social media to connect with the public when he took office in 2009. Throughout his career, he has continued to utilize his Facebook page to share the department’s actions, concerns, and arrests.

John said the sheriff’s office would continue to utilize social media under his guidance but with some changes — including the using a county government page instead of a personal sheriff’s page.

“We will continue similar information-sharing that Sheriff Heitman had, with some changes,” John said. “I would like for there to be more information and public safety information shared on the page,” John said. “I intend to continue with the arrest updates, though we will only list felony arrests. People make mistakes and those mistakes don’t define them. Sharing every misdemeanor arrest we make is unfair.”

When he is not working at the sheriff’s office, John pastors at a church within the county.

“As a pastor, it helps me understand the need for not only consequences but grace,” he said. “The mistake doesn’t define the person. It’s unfair to judge a person’s entire life on a single mistake.”

Sheriff’s Office Property Development

“The most important thing I’ve learned since I became an officer here is that it’s very important to continue the training of your deputies and your staff,” John said. “There’s no replacement for quality training.”

Being able to train together is a big part of why the county commissioners approved the land purchase for the sheriff’s office to build a gun range and storage facility.

“The property was purchased by the county commission for $12,000 for the sheriff’s office to use,”  John said. “The sheriff’s office has around $80,000 in the budget for property development.”

John said the funds for the project are not renewable.

“The money for that property came from the discovery of money due to the sheriff’s office from the Department of Corrections and some cost savings the sheriff’s office is utilizing from when we were short a deputy,” John said.

He added that the property has several uses, including having a centrally located storage facility and training area.

“It’s being developed for a couple of uses,” John said. “A three-sided gun range on the eastern third. The remaining portion of the property will be for storage. We have some Department of Defense surplus items, a Humvee, a two-and-a-half-ton tank bed truck and some UTVs. A couple of storage containers and an equipment trailer, which are all currently being stored on employees’ personal property — not ideal.”

The purchased property is centrally located so the sheriff’s office to access its current assets and keep it protected.

“The money we are spending there primarily has to do with the excavation of the property,” John said. “We already have had all of the trees removed from it, we have begun dirt work. The pistol range is almost complete. The entrance still needs to be completed. Some gravel will need to be hauled in, fencing will be erected on the property and electric service will need to be installed.”

In-Office Training

In addition to field training, John said the sheriff’s office conducts internal policy reviews and training as new challenges come to light. The development of the 2022 Elmore case where an inmate died days after being housed in the Maries County Jail resulted in the department’s push for a better camera system. The new system was eventually purchased and paid for with a grant and is currently in use.

“We updated the camera system at the beginning of 2024,” John said. “Ensuring we maintain a level of training with all of our staff to ensure we do everything we can to prevent any kind of incident. But nothing can prevent everything.”

From the same grant, the sheriff’s department purchased much-needed equipment that was originally in the department’s budget. Funds that were saved by being able to purchase new equipment with grant monies were used to buy additional safety weapons for deputies.

“I bought off-duty weapons for the deputies - small conceal-and-carry pistols,” John said. “The less lethal weapons purchased for the deputies were Mossberg shotguns for the patrol cars. Those can deliver a bean bag or rubber pellet round or a tear gas round. The shotgun is a versatile weapon — a dedicated, less lethal option for the patrol car. You can deploy that from 15 to 40 feet away.”

John said regardless of the election’s outcome, current and future deputies will have access to the weapons and be safe on or off duty.

Relationship With Commissioners, Emergency Management Role

The Maries County Commissioners have already approved the sheriff’s office to hire a clerk, which John says speaks to the good relationship between the offices.

“I have a great working relationship with the county commission,” John said. “I can openly discuss any issues or concerns I may have with any of them and have worked with them inside the county commission meetings to make many changes to the sheriff’s office.”

John also works closely with commissioners because of his role as Emergency Manager in the county. If he loses his bid for sheriff, he said the commissioners would need to decide what to do with the role.

“My emergency management role is separate from my chief deputy role,” John said. “The county commission would need to decide if they want to retain me or tap someone in the sheriff’s office after. I don’t intend to resign as emergency management coordinator.”

Eliminating Chief Deputy, Hire Clerk, Add Detective

John has used his time as chief deputy to build relationships and trust with the staff. Training together fosters trust. If he wins the sheriff’s election, he plans to keep both his corporals as supervisors — one tending to the jailers and dispatchers and the other operating the road deputies and services.

“Hiring a clerk and eliminating the chief deputy will allow the department to add another detective and help with staff retention,” John said.

County Agencies Working Together

Last week John spoke to the relationship between the sheriff’s office and Belle Police Department. The departments’ relationship is currently strained and John said when the election is over, he would like to sit down and fix the issues.

Even though The sheriff’s office and Belle Marshal Jerry Coborn currently have a good working relationship, former Maries County officer Sgt. Mark Morgan and Officer Erican Sugg do not. Additionally, on July 9 the Belle Board of Aldermen passed a resolution to add a safety tax to the ballot. Concerns were expressed that without the safety tax, the “Belle Police Department’s future was vague” and the city may need to contract the services out again.

While Heitman previously contracted police services with the city with John as police chief of the Belle Division, the sheriff’s candidate said he would rather not enter into another agreement.

“I would prefer not to enter into another contract with the city of Belle to help with patrols,” John said. “Not that I don’t want to help Belle, but it’s not the role of the sheriff’s office. I will do everything I can to assist Belle in maintaining law enforcement in the city. If that includes assisting them with some manpower, we will do what we can to make it work, but I don’t believe contracted patrolling between the city and the sheriff’s office is the ideal answer.”

All In Or All Out

For the last eight years, John has worked in nearly every job at the sheriff’s office to take on the role of chief law enforcement officer of the county when the time came. If he loses the Aug. 6 primary, will he stay?

“If I lose the election, I will not continue at the sheriff’s office,” John said. “That would be a good question for the sheriff’s office staff as well. I do not plan to stay, and neither do a large percentage of the staff. I encourage the public to ask the staff what their plans are for the future.”

If he does win, though, John says he is all in. Despite spending three of the last eight years as head of the department during the sheriff’s absences, he doesn’t pretend the job will be easy.

“You have to be determined,” John said. “Until I step into the role, it’s hard to answer. I believe Sheriff Heitman has prepared me well for those challenges and I am looking forward to the challenges.”