Branch: Good year despite economy

The only dark cloud over a year filled with positive achievements and recognition remains the economy, Culpeper County Sheriff Jim Branch said last week.

Speaking before 20 people at a quarterly report at the Reva fire hall — his third such public forum since taking office nearly a year ago — Branch said he sympathized with the Board of Supervisors, the group responsible for appropriating funding for the Sheriff’s Office.

“I don’t envy them or the decisions they will have to make,” he said. “The Board of Supervisors has been very good to public safety in Culpeper County, and it is my position that they will continue to treat us fairly.”

Last week, the supervisors approved filling two recently vacated full-time positions in the Sheriff’s Office, a move that Branch said will allow him to maintain the current level of patrols and service.

Despite a call for questions, none were raised during the hour-long meeting. Branch went on to introduce the command staff and highlight achievements of the Sheriff’s Office this year. They include:

* Joining forces with the Culpeper Police Department and the Commonwealth’s Attorney to run the first joint citizens law enforcement academy this spring. The next session is scheduled to begin in February.
* The establishment of several new Neighborhood Watch programs.
* A jail renovation that increased capacity and improved inmate quality of life.
* Recognition from the U.S. Department of Justice for having no reports of sexual victimization in the county jail in 2007.
* Establishing a car show and donating the proceeds to charity.

“We are all in a common battle, we’re all trying to make the same goal,” Branch said. “We want to make sure that we make this community as safe as it can be.”

Nate Delesline III can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 110 or .