During a Turkey town board meeting earlier this week, Sheriff Jimmy Thornton addressed more than just dogs. He took time to discuss with town commissioners and residents in attendance two other issues that had been brought to his attention from a Sampson Independent article about Community Watch and drug issues.

Thornton provided the board with several packets of information on beginning a Community Watch program and informed the board that it needed to appoint a committee to work with his department in getting the program up and running. “We will be happy to sit down and work through this information and develop a watch program especially for your town. Just let us know when you have your committee in place,” said the sheriff.

Drugs, he admonished are a problem everywhere, and one his department deals with daily.

“We are constantly doing a variety of things to try to combat the problem,” he said. “And I appreciate the many notifications we have received from the town’s citizens. We are dependent on your informing us of any unusual activity occurring in your communities,” commented Thornton.

“The Community Watch program will be just another tool to help address the issue of illegal activities taking place here. You have my cell number and I encourage you to call me if anything suspicious is happening. I would rather investigate something and find out it is OK than not investigate some activity and find out later that a big drug deal or some other illegal activity was taking place,” concluded Thornton.

One Turkey resident expressed her gratitude for the swift response the Sheriff’s Department had given her when she reported drug activity in her community during the public comment part of the board’s agenda.

Thornton again thanked her for providing valuable information to his department. “I encourage everyone to contact us when you see anything unusual. I was taught not to be nosy. But in today’s world, it pays to be nosy and report strange activity. And it is smarter to report it to us rather than you attempting to handle it yourself. Get pertinent information such as description of vehicles and individuals and license tag numbers but don’t approach these people yourselves,” added the sheriff.