Madison County Sheriff holds community meeting with NAACP

JACKSON, Tenn — A sheriff trying to connect to a community.

“We serve the people and we’re here for that purpose,” said Madison County Sheriff John Mehr.

Thursday, Sheriff Mehr continued his community outreach and held a community meeting at the Jackson-Madison County NAACP headquarters.

“I just think we need to be able to talk to the community listen to them and also for them to listen to us.”

Mehr said no question were off limits and Thursday night community members held him to that.

Close to 40 people filled the meeting and grilled Mehr on everything from the legalization of marijuana to body cameras but the heated conversations came from criticism over the proposal to build a new multi-million dollar jail.

“Knowledge is power when you’re involved your enabling yourself to make a change,” said Lane College student Lejuan Berry.

Berry came with members of the Lane chapter of the NAACP who wanted their voices heard.

“Just to let our students know that hey we’re here and we stand for something even if it’s a local chapter but we can take what we learned in our local chapter and spread it throughout our hometown,”  said Berry.

The sheriff said it is an event with a positive outcome and positive results.

“People tell us how much they appreciate the deputies and how they respond and how they get treated and that’s important, we like to hear that. We also if there is criticism we want to know what it is so we can correct it,” said Sheriff Mehr.