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COMMENTS ON SHERIFF RONNIE MAY

T traderPost Master
This a response to SHOCKY who made some accusation against Ronnie May on the site covering the shooting of Sonny Kimbrough...

Your comments were uncalled for, undignified and back stabbing. Ronnie is unable to respond to such crap such as this, and should not respond to such childish banner...but I can..

One of the reasons the Sheriff Department has trouble getting Certified Officers to apply is the County Commissioners refuse to give the Deputies decent pay..They have not had a decent raise in years. Just about everything Ronnie ask for to improve the Quality of the Department and financial security of the men he has had to fight for and most request are declined by the present sitting commissioners...

The Sheriff has to go to the commission for equipment, expenses for maintaining the jail, salaries, etc...This sitting Commission has sat on their butt allowing the Jail to become adequated and overcrowded. The Sheriff has a shoe string budget to feed prisoners and house them. He has to meet federal guidelines with a budget that third world countries would find even difficult to utilize...So! if you wish to point a finger, direct it toward the group of men who hold the purse strings..The Colbert County Commission.

A sitting Sheriff is first a boss and supervisor. He is not and cannot be a friend first then supervisor...this within itself brings discontent among some employees...
There will always be a degree of gossip and discontent in any office regardless...as for the backstabbling in the courthouse...Let me ask you this....who are the majority of the employees? Then you will have your answer to why there is such back stabbing...it has to do with the nature of the employee makeup not issues...
Any man would be eating prozac like candy having to work in that environment..

I have known Ronnie since 1970. In 37 years of either working with him on cases or just going in to see him, my opinion of him has not changed..No! I am not an employee, ex-employee or worked for any department he has worked with.
After 37 years of watching a man do his job, I can say he does the best he can with what he has to work with.
Are Politics involved in the office...you bet they are...Its a Sheriff Office and a elected position...I can not think of any elected office where some decision are not made for political reasons sometimes...if you don't think that happens then you are naive..

Ronnie May is not the issue in the shooting of Sonny Kimbrough...so if you wish to comment on him, do it here...this is the site that has been set up just for you and the others to comment anyway they wish on the likes and dislikes of Ronnie May...
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F falcon1234Hall of Famer
I used to think, based on what I saw in the media, that Sheriff May was a buffoon. By pure happenstance, I had dinner with him a year or so ago at a banquet. On a face-to-face basis, he is articulate, intelligent, and cares about not only his county but the entire Shoals area. I came away extremely impressed with him and with his wife. As someone pointed out previously, he can only work with the resources he has.
T traderPost Master
Ronnie
knows a lot of people. As long as he as been in that profession, I assure you he knows more about a lot of people than they want him to know.
Unfortunately, Ronnie does not have the choice of selecting the cases that come to his department. He puts his personal feelings aside and goes about doing his job. Yes! he is human, and he feels I am sure, sad for both sides of the families...but regardless, Ronnie is a consumate lawman, who will do his job regardless of his personal feelings. That is why so many in his profession respect him.

Kindred is right about one thing....the defense attorneys will go after Sonny...the prosecution will go after Deb...the investigators will tell it like it is...not embellishing or detracting either side of the story...the results will be hurt feelings on both side of the familes...the time ahead is going to be difficult for all of them. I just hope the unity of their families can withstand the strain for it is going to be mighty...
B BamafnatkHall of Famer
I agree , the other Post was not the place to slam Ronnie May or any Law Inforcement , a Horrible thing happened for what ever reason to a good man. Ok I am glad this new Post opened up , & I am sure most all think the world of Ronnie May & supported or voted for him, but meeting in a cafe , or eating with him at Bandquet or civic event , seeing him on the street a solf spoken man I am sure. I had no reason to dislike or not trust him ,Now that was all good, now the Ugly side . Untell I called him to ask about an Arrest & Drugs charges on the young man that killed our son . He told me not only on the phone , but I went to his Office, that he had flushed the drugs & the charges had been droped, as he has many, many , many times before . Because at the time the Honorable D A Gary Alverson to most , was not taking this case to the Grand Jury, he allso told me , it made it look as if he was Not doing his job . So I go talk to D A Gary Alevrson, a man that I have no repect for as a man & he tells me ,he knows nothing of this . I have a copy of the report at the time of the arrest. So then I go back to Ronnie May, he said he didn't know what else to tell me, so who do you beleave, & if Ronnie as the Sheriff said this has happened time & agian , Why & who gets drug charges droped & why ? Now that week I was to be a part of a Drug Awareness Program at Deshler , I had been doing this for over 3 years in hopes of saving one family from the hell of getting that horrible phone call , maybe even one of your kids , grandkids or family memebers, but I get a phone call the day before telling me of some professional speaker, so I go to Deshler that nite, no other speaker & after wards as I was helping take some things to a car I was ask if I had been aloud to speak, was I going to blast anyone, & was told that I did not understand how much power these people have, at that time it hit me , because I had been asking quesstions as any of you would have been ,if it had been one of your loveones , I was stoped , what is there fear of the truth . At a school to parents & kids is not the time or place to blast anyone in how they are or are not doing their job or handling the drug problem in our area, I would never dishonor that program or our sons Name in that way. But out of Fear some elected officail , one or both made that Phone call , I was lied to . what I have said, I am willing to back it up, with a copy of paper work of the drugs , crack pipe ,& the young mans car that was towed in by Colbert Co . As the Florence Police carried the young man that killed our son to Lauderdale Co.for Murder DUI of Drug arrest. With a new D A in Colbert Co . I would hope this would never happen again.
C colbertcounty1Familiar Face
There is no doubt that Ronnie May is a good person. He is articulate, intelligent, honest, very friendly, and has a big heart. He wants the best for his department and the citizens of Colbert County.

Being a good person does not make you a good leader. Being honest does not make you a good boss. Being intelligent does not make you a good Sheriff.

Yes the Colbert County Commission is to blame for the sorry state of the jail and lack of equipment. Every year the Sheriff puts in a budget and the Commission goes over it with the Sheriff. The Sheriff always puts in a request for 5 or 6 more Deputies’, more cars, ECT. The County Commission has told Ronnie, tell us what you really need and we will get it for you. The Commission did give the Sheriff’s Dept more dispatches a few years ago. So there is give and take. I am not trying to defend the Commission because they do a lot of things wrong.

There is a big difference between being friends with the Sheriff and being an employee of the Sheriff. When Buddy was Sheriff, the dept would have to hire a new employee about once or twice a year. That would include all employee’s, Deputy, Dispatches, jailers, and office employees. Since July 2007 the Sheriff’s office has hired 7 new employees. No new positions were created, employees quit and their position filled. This does not include office personal. All of the offices personal are new to their position over the last year and a few months. The dispatcher position was a transfer to the office and their old position filled.
http://www.colbertcounty.org/sheriff/employment.html

Why are so many people quitting their jobs? Because the moral is at a all time low. Some would say pay, which is not it. One Deputy quit and went to Tuscumbia PD, taking a pay cut. Two went to Sheffield PD, taking a pay cut. So pay is not it. The right hand does not know what the left hand is doing. The best way to describe it would be by stating the facts. The Sheriff does not know what is going on in the dept. I have seen with my own eyes and heard with my own ears orders giving out by the Sheriff to Deputies in meetings. When the Sheriff leaves the room, the order is stopped by the Chief Deputy. This has happened time and time again. The Chief is in bad health and has a very bad memory. He can not remember something you told him last week; I would say it is 50 / 50 chance. We have went to the Sheriff and told him that his orders was cancelled. He will talk with the Chief and he will say I did not do that. Nothing is ever done about it. If the Sheriff has no clue on what is going on then he is wrong. If the Sheriff knows about it and will not do anything about it he is wrong. At some point you have to do what is best for the dept and not what is best for a friendship. They both have worked together for a long time, but when the moral of you dept goes down because of a person, you have to act. The old saying he is to nice to be in that job, could apply here.

The above is just the top of the ice burg. One Deputy pulled out his gun and pointed it at the head of another Deputy for stepping on his boot. The only thing done was the Deputy got 3 days off. He should have been fired for it. One Reserve Deputy who is over 80 pulled his gun and fired it by accident, almost hitting a person. He should have been retired. One Deputy pulled his gun and again fired it by accident and denied it every happened. When they pulled the video, it showed him doing it. Nothing was done. How can this Deputy ever testify in court again after being caught lying? This is why everyone is quitting. This is why morale is low. If the are a butt kisser, you can do nothing wrong. The three above are. If you are not a butt kisser, do anything wrong and get writing up.
There is so much more going on. The buck stops at the Sheriff’s doorstep. If he does not know what is going on or he allows what is going on he is just as wrong. Sometimes it is just time to retire. Maybe he has lost interests, maybe he is busy with other things, but he is paid to keep the dept going and protects the citizens of Colbert County. When morale is as low as it is, employees do not do their best; they do not try as much. That my friend puts all of us at danger.
P puckerupfrog (Guest)
quote:
i have known Ronnie May since we were kids..he was a nice guy growing up, and he is a good man now..i'm sure he does the best he can, with the resources he's given..i am still proud to call him friend..


same here! i've known him since elementary school and he's a good guy.
FirenzeVeritasFirenzeVeritasOld Faithful
I'm sure he's a great guy, but that doen's mean he good in law enforcement or at working with/commanding others. Everytime I had to call the deputies to my job (when I was a cashier in the county), they were always complaining about the May.

For the record, I've had interviews that asked: are you good at cracking the whip with subordinants. I'm not, that doesn't mean I'm not good at many things. That may the case with May.
B BAMAFAN2355Small Talker
AMEN !!!!!! tell it like it is...the citizens need to know whats going on. you go too shockey!!! tell us more.
quote:
Originally posted by colbertcounty1:
There is no doubt that Ronnie May is a good person. He is articulate, intelligent, honest, very friendly, and has a big heart. He wants the best for his department and the citizens of Colbert County.

Being a good person does not make you a good leader. Being honest does not make you a good boss. Being intelligent does not make you a good Sheriff.

Yes the Colbert County Commission is to blame for the sorry state of the jail and lack of equipment. Every year the Sheriff puts in a budget and the Commission goes over it with the Sheriff. The Sheriff always puts in a request for 5 or 6 more Deputies’, more cars, ECT. The County Commission has told Ronnie, tell us what you really need and we will get it for you. The Commission did give the Sheriff’s Dept more dispatches a few years ago. So there is give and take. I am not trying to defend the Commission because they do a lot of things wrong.

There is a big difference between being friends with the Sheriff and being an employee of the Sheriff. When Buddy was Sheriff, the dept would have to hire a new employee about once or twice a year. That would include all employee’s, Deputy, Dispatches, jailers, and office employees. Since July 2007 the Sheriff’s office has hired 7 new employees. No new positions were created, employees quit and their position filled. This does not include office personal. All of the offices personal are new to their position over the last year and a few months. The dispatcher position was a transfer to the office and their old position filled.
http://www.colbertcounty.org/sheriff/employment.html

Why are so many people quitting their jobs? Because the moral is at a all time low. Some would say pay, which is not it. One Deputy quit and went to Tuscumbia PD, taking a pay cut. Two went to Sheffield PD, taking a pay cut. So pay is not it. The right hand does not know what the left hand is doing. The best way to describe it would be by stating the facts. The Sheriff does not know what is going on in the dept. I have seen with my own eyes and heard with my own ears orders giving out by the Sheriff to Deputies in meetings. When the Sheriff leaves the room, the order is stopped by the Chief Deputy. This has happened time and time again. The Chief is in bad health and has a very bad memory. He can not remember something you told him last week; I would say it is 50 / 50 chance. We have went to the Sheriff and told him that his orders was cancelled. He will talk with the Chief and he will say I did not do that. Nothing is ever done about it. If the Sheriff has no clue on what is going on then he is wrong. If the Sheriff knows about it and will not do anything about it he is wrong. At some point you have to do what is best for the dept and not what is best for a friendship. They both have worked together for a long time, but when the moral of you dept goes down because of a person, you have to act. The old saying he is to nice to be in that job, could apply here.

The above is just the top of the ice burg. One Deputy pulled out his gun and pointed it at the head of another Deputy for stepping on his boot. The only thing done was the Deputy got 3 days off. He should have been fired for it. One Reserve Deputy who is over 80 pulled his gun and fired it by accident, almost hitting a person. He should have been retired. One Deputy pulled his gun and again fired it by accident and denied it every happened. When they pulled the video, it showed him doing it. Nothing was done. How can this Deputy ever testify in court again after being caught lying? This is why everyone is quitting. This is why morale is low. If the are a butt kisser, you can do nothing wrong. The three above are. If you are not a butt kisser, do anything wrong and get writing up.
There is so much more going on. The buck stops at the Sheriff’s doorstep. If he does not know what is going on or he allows what is going on he is just as wrong. Sometimes it is just time to retire. Maybe he has lost interests, maybe he is busy with other things, but he is paid to keep the dept going and protects the citizens of Colbert County. When morale is as low as it is, employees do not do their best; they do not try as much. That my friend puts all of us at danger.
B BamafnatkHall of Famer
One more thing for voters, & it came from the TD News Paper for a 3 year time flame , when the TD posted Indictments & Convictions of our 4 Countys was posted each month , Colbert Co. only had a 23 percent Drug indictment & Conviction , & Lauderdale Co. had a 20 % drug indictment & Convictions & Get this Frankland Co. 59 % & Lawernce Co 63 % , wonder why such a huge defference, well in Lauderdale Co at that time the head of Drug Task Force got indicted for cutting deals & droping charges, we know one case for sure in Colbert Co , where drug charges was droped even on someone that had all ready killed someone only 3 months before. Oh now the Times Daily only list Law & Order so it is hard to compair one County from the other . Voters should be interested .

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