Lubbock County Sheriff Kelly Rowe Talks Pay Raises and Jail Overcrowding

Thursday on Sunrise LBK with Dave King and Tom Collins, The Lubbock County Sheriff Kelly Rowe joined Dave and Tom to talk about how society reacts to police these days, police pay and the recent raises, qualified immunity, a shooting in Levelland, overcrowding in the county jail, and more.

The Sheriff was asked about the recent tax change for police pay increase, and what the reception has looked like so far. Rowe explained that the reception has been overwhelmingly positive, and that it has been a tremendous nod from the citizens of Lubbock who clearly support their police. Rowe said that no one gets into this business with the intention to get rich, and instead do it to help people. That being said, it is 2021, and people need to be able to live with increased pay. Additionally, the Sheriff's department needs to be competitive in order to prevent officers from going to other cities, and he thinks that our citizens support that idea. The Sheriff intends to keep that in mind as he moves forward and works with the commissioners court.

Rowe also discussed various aspects of how society views police these days.  He explained that people tend to want to resist police, and on top of that, everyone has a gun now, so police need to be careful. The Sheriff also talked about discussions in the Texas legislature, as well as legislatures around the country, as people are wanting to take away officers' qualified immunity, a form of legal liability protection for officers. Rowe went on to say he believes these talks of "reform" are just symptoms, and won't solve the actual problems in society.

Finally, the Sheriff talked was asked about how much room there is in our jail. Rowe explained that, while we were able to ride through the bulk of it for a long time, COVID is finally catching up to them and causing overcrowding in the jails. This can be caused by courts being interrupted, and the state slowing down, causing a bit of a backup. This problem is not exclusive to Lubbock, and if the jail fills up in Lubbock, people have to be sent somewhere else.

Listen to the full interview with Sheriff Kelly Rowe in the audio above.

Sunrise LBK with Dave King & Tom Collins airs weekday mornings live, from 6:00 AM to 8:30 AM on News/Talk 95.1 FM and 790 AM KFYO, online at KFYO.com, & on the free KFYO app.