By By Lydia Grimes
news reporter
A recent trip to London gave Escambia County Sheriff Grover Smith a chance to share some of the challenges faced by rural law enforcement, he said.
Smith received an invitation to a law enforcement conference in London after he attended a similar meeting in Florida earlier this year.
That conference, sponsored by the Department of Justice’s research arm, the National Institute of Justice, also gave the sheriff’s department a chance to try out some new equipment — including the powered parachute Smith and Chief Deputy Mike Lambert have been flying over the county’s skies in recent days. The Powrachute is on loan for free for at least a year.
Smith was invited with 12 other law enforcement officials in the U.S. to attend the meetings in London, with all the expenses paid by the Department of Justice.
And as the sheriff’s department continues its relationship with the DOJ’s research unit, Smith said he hopes the department will be able to use more tools for law enforcement.