Williamson County Sheriff Jeff Diederich has posted a letter to the residents of Herrin regarding the growing crime presence in the community.
He said over the past decade, there has been a troubling rise in the reporting of automobile thefts, drug activity, residential burglaries, drive by shootings, unsupervised juveniles roaming the streets after curfew, vehicle burglaries, theft, and crimes against persons.
Diederich added the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office continues to field dozens of citizen inquiries each week requesting assistance in addressing the out of control criminal activity plaguing the community.
The sheriff placed part of the blame on the lack of police officers in the community. He said local municipalities often operate with as few as two officers on a given shift, leaving limited resources for proactive policing, which is not enough for a community of Herrin’s size.
To help address the issue, the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office began Community Impact Patrols within Herrin, which are designed to saturate the community with a focus on felony-level criminal offenses, target patrols addressing juvenile groups roaming after curfew, particularly those involved in vehicle thefts and other serious crimes, a visible presence of deputies serving as a deterrent to criminal activity and the identification and closure of drug houses to disrupt the flow of illegal narcotics and restore safety to neighborhoods.
Sheriff Diederich said the effects of these efforts have already begun to take root in recent days resulting in a number of criminal arrests and multiple unsupervised juveniles removed from roaming the streets at 2:30 in the morning.
