Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: MAY 2016 21 P olicing isn’t as big a business as bail bonds yet, but that could soon change. It’s unclear what kind of revenue policing can bring in because until re- cently no one re- ally thought that was the point of the exercise. But bail bonds are big business. They generate $2 billion in profits annually and that number is climbing. Butbailbonds- men in Bradley County, Tennes- see aren’t very happy these days. That’sbecause Bradley County Sheriff Eric Wat- son’s wife, Tenille Watson, is now working as a bail bondsman. According to a report from the Times Free Press, bondsmen learned that Sheriff Watson took his wife along to a sobriety checkpoint in Charleston, Tennessee. She then wrote the single larg- est number of bonds from that weekend’s arrests. The bondsmen are crying foul. “We’re all unhappy,” said a long- time bondsman who didn’t want to be identified for fear of retaliation. “If she can do that, why can’t we ride with police officers?” “I’ve got nothing against the sheriff’s wife at all, but it’s a conflict. All the booking agents will toss stuff to the sheriff’s wife as a favor,” said another established bondsman. Sheriff Watson says the couple have violated no laws and all this stuff is just a personal agenda or maybe outside agitators trying to stir up the community. Watson’s a former member of the Tennessee House of Representa- tives. Referring to his service in the Tennessee House of Representa- tives, Watson said, “Politics is really different here on the local level than the state level — they go after your jugular down here,” Watson told reporters. State law says sheriffs and depu- ties, among others, “shall not be bail bondsmen or agents of bail bonds- men or surety companies and shall not directly or indirectly receive any benefits from the execution of any bail bond.” In addition, a 2014 attorney gen- eral’s opinion says that the spouse of a law enforcement officer may not work as a bondsman under most circumstances be- cause the publicly employed wife or husband could benefit from the spouse’s job. That opinion came after Knox- ville-based bond- ing firm Sanford and Son hired a woman whose husband was an assistant at a small police depart- ment. “I personally, as an owner, would not hire the sher- iff’s wife,” Sanford and Son owner Sean Sanford said. “You’re just ask- ing for trouble, even if there’s no impropriety.” Sheriff’s wife becomes a bail bondsman – Yikes! Considering the money involved, it’s easy to understand the claims of unfair advantage The difference between rocket science and social science is you need a Ph.D. for one and a 10- year-old kid could probably do the other. Seriously? Headline: Study to Examine How Outdoor Lighting Reduces Crime Hey eggheads, why don’t you save a few million and just write up the conclusion: “It turns out that the almost total lack of street lights in Detroit might be a contributing factor in high rates of crime.”