Club Meeting Recap--August 3, 2015

Posted 
on Aug 04, 2015
 
Elkhart County Sheriff, Brad Rogers,
Spoke to the Club
 
 

President Terri Rickel rang the bell calling to order the August, 3rd, 2015 meeting of the Elkhart Rotary. Joel Duthie led in the Invocation, Pledge and the Four Way Test.

Honorary Rotarian, Art Decio, was in attendance.

Announcements:

  • Eric Amt announced the Michiana Speaker Series for 2015 - 2016, "Strengthening Communities Through Healthy Lifestyles," to be held at the Lerner Crystal Ballroom in November 2015 and March 2016.  
  • Susan Ginther announced the "Fifth Monday Dinner" to be held on August 31st. She said it will be in line with the healthy lifestyle theme.  More information to follow.
  • Brian Housand reminded everyone of the Taste of the Garden event which is quickly approaching on August 22nd.  The yard signs were available to pick up. 
  • Maria Slager announced that Doug Putnam's wife, Mary had passed away.
  • Mike Crabill, Foundation Chairman for the local rotary district, announced that the Elkhart Rotary Club has ranked number one in several areas of giving.

Sergeant at Arms, Lisa Gilkey Schoetzow, assessed fines even though the "boring" Rotarians had given her very little to work with. 

Scott Puckett introduced the speaker for the day, Sheriff Brad Rogers. 

Brad is a 32-year veteran in law enforcement and has served in Elkhart County for 28 years, currently serving his second term as Sheriff.  He and his wife,Susie, have been married for 35 years and have 3 children.

Brad offered some statistics about Elkhart County:

  • Elkhart has a population of around 200,000
  • 60% live outside of municipal limits
  • Approximately 1,000 are added to the population every year
  • 80 to 90% of housing starts are in the unincorporated part of the county
  • There are 196 employees at the sheriff's department with 70 of them being officers
  • They receive approximately 71,800 calls for service annually
  • There are 6 to 8 patrol cars on the road at any given time

Sheriff Rogers also talked about the duties of the Sheriff which include:

  • Making arrests, detaining suspects and taking them before the court
  • Suppressing breaches of the peace
  • Maintaining the jail and inmates (there are currently about 1000 beds with about 600 inmates currently incarcerated)
  • Executing all processes with about 43,000 papers being served annually throughout the county
  • Seeking alternatives to incarceration such as work and community programs, GED, parenting and career development training to help reduce the incidences of reoffending
  • Monitor and maintain the sex offenders registry which currently has 469 people listed

Brad also talked about the Elkhart County re-entry initiative which strives to remove barriers and empower offenders to become successful, productive citizens.

For more information, visit: www.elkhartcountysheriff.com

Upcoming Program:  August 10th, Rick Horn, "Play Tall" business coach.