DeSoto County, Mississippi, Sheriff Bill Rasco, has been pushing to get radar since he took office more than 10 years ago. He’s determined to make it happen in the fastest growing county in the state, to slow down speeders.
Sheriff Rasco also announced Wednesday he’s running for re-election this year.
He says he’ll never stop fighting to get radar to slow down speeders as long as he’s in office. He says it’s all about saving lives.
“It makes no sense to me whatsoever that the chief law enforcement officer in the county cannot run radar,” says Sheriff Rasco.
Sheriff Rasco, is aggravated. He’s been pushing to get radar in his county for 11 years with no luck.
“My first year in office, we buried six juveniles because of speed,” says Sheriff Rasco.
Rasco says teenagers speed and jump hills. It’s dangerous and he wants to stop it before another child is killed.
“If the people in our county don’t believe we need it, just drive around our county and see what the traffic is like in our area,” says Sheriff Rasco.
“Nobody wants to go to a funeral to see their kid or somebody else you know laying there in a casket,” says Deputy Alex Coker.
Rasco has support from county residents, fellow sheriffs in other Mississippi counties, plus support within his department.
“You’ve got kids, you know, just getting their license, and they’re wanting to get up and go and get away from mom and dad. And we’ve got to slow these kids down,” says Deputy Coker.
“Without a doubt, speeding is the number one complaint we receive,” says Deputy Macon Moore. “We just do not have the tool to enforce speeding.”
Rasco says if state lawmakers will give him the green light, he’ll find the money to do it.
“Even if the supervisors don’t increase my budget, I would find somewhere to get the money to make sure we’d have one, two, or three,” says Sheriff Rasco.
Lowndes County is the only county in Mississippi that has radar.
Rasco plans to meet with other Mississippi Sheriff’s in Jackson this month to talk about the need for radar.
