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Sheriff’s Office Funeral Escorts Resuming
October 6, 2018
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office will resume funeral escorts later this month.
“The funeral escort program is an historical part of the service we provide to the citizens of Escambia County. We are proud to see its resumption,” said Sheriff David Morgan.
The ECSO will begin “phasing in” funeral escorts on October 15.
The funeral escort program was put on hiatus last year as was a portion of the school resource officer program due to lack of manpower and projected shortages. After a prolonged budget fight, a settlement was reached which allowed pay raises for current deputies as well as raising the starting pay over the next three years to attract additional deputies. The SRO positions were reinstated in August.
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Comments
14 Responses to “Sheriff’s Office Funeral Escorts Resuming”
Fred does not know what he is talking about. Those are deputies on side gigs being paid by the company, not taxpayers. That is fact. The county commissioners forced sheriff to make cuts. He was bullied the entire time by political driven crap. Sheriff’s main focus is public safety. Not anything else. Don’t get that mixed up folks. You can cry cry cry but ultimately the county commissioners determine how much sheriff gets. Direct your anger to them. Not the ones putting themselves on the line. It’s that simple.
In glad escorts are back. I was very upset when they were stopped for political purposes. Morgan lost my vote on that one. The escorts are important to help The families and funeral procession stay together and make timely progress to the graveside so everyone is present for the burial. When our Mother died, we had to wait because everyone was separated by lights and traffic and just pulling out of the funeral home. Glad a little respect is given back.. We all pay the taxes and should all get that respect on the last ride.
Everyone should understand that the Sheriffs Office dose not charge the funeral home for this service, however while making arrangements for your loved ones check over your invoice closely, funeral homes charge for this service even though they are not being charged, sounds like a private business is making money off the tax payers dime and not passing the benefit onto their customer which is really paying twice.
@Stumpknocker–I pull over anytime a funeral, EMS, Fire/Rescue is active whether on a four lane or two. Anytime I do, I’m darn near run over. I’ve actually got to wait to get back on the road.
I chalk this up to the lack of character amoung young adults due to the new culture and the amount of people that have moved here from cesspool cities that don’t know the meaning of respect.
I am glad this political scare tactic is over. I would rather see my tax dollars wasted respectfully than sitting at the Waffle House. If they can sit on the road or escort wind mill parts for G.E. then the funeral home could just add this to the bill.Did they even get that option. But that would have taken away from the desired effect to pressure the commissioners. I wonder if the Sheriff or deputy were in the hurse would the others be required to take leave or drive their personal cars to save gas.
When I would see funeral escorts I’d watch motorist on a four lane hwy going the opposite direction with a median pull over and stop, which is nice,But what would be even nicer and respectful is to do the same for EMS, let’s remember that while we drive, nothing we can really do for the deceased but we should definitely yield the right of way for the injured or sick and ensure they and EMS arrive safely.
@Fred another opinion that’s based on zero facts or knowledge. The deputies you see at the ramps are working a side job for the construction company supplementing their income and being paid by the construction company and the deputy pays $2.00 an hour back to the ECSO, which is more than the funeral homes pay which is zero, the tax payers foot that bill.
It appears when Morgan stopped escorts he was just throwing his weight around.
I am so very glad they have resumed this service. It is an honored tradition here in NW Florida.
Respect for the dead or living went out the window a long time ago. People only think of themselves and don’t care about others. It’s me me me and nothing else. I was raised to respect individuals and treat people the way I wanted to be treated. I raised my children that way and in turn they raised their children that way. Now days if you don’t believe the way I do you are wrong and people today don’t want to talk they want to scream in your face and be rude. If you watched any news lately you would see what I’m writing about.
I am so glad to see this happen,in January we were in a funeral possession for my brother,even though we did pay for an escort but it was just a regular car with amber lights and some people were stopping but there was a terrible wreak and we were already upset but this just was awful.Thank you, ever who is putting this back.People do look up and take notice when they see a police car.
the escort srv should have never stop these people are paid for thier services. and why should a person be denied a escort on thier very last ride and if a person can give me a good reason i would like to hear it this is a southern tradition !!!!!!!! and respect for the people who have passed on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SO NOW YOU ARE GOING TO PUT THE ESCORT SERVICE OUT OF BUSINESS.
PEOPLE TRYING TO SUPPORT THEIR FAMILIES
While I don’t believe that manpower or resources were ever an issue, this is great news. I have seen funerals escorted by non-law enforcement escort services. These people were actually blocking intersections with no legal authority to do so, and some drivers were proceeding through. It was a recipe for disaster. During the hiatus, I observed deputies baby-sitting a closed interstate ramp and lane closures at construction sites (there were other instances, but I think this illustrates my point). These were clearly not law enforcement critical assignments, so it was pretty obvious that manpower was not the problem. Mr. Morgan was clearly using all the tools in his belt to put the pressure on the Commissioners (which, arguably was probably necessary to get their attention to the serious pay issue). I just didn’t like citizen safety being the fulcrum to get action. But, this is good news, and funeral processions will be safer and our tradition of escorting the deceased with honor will continue.