New cruisers for sheriff

NORWALK — The Huron County Sheriff's Office has been approved to purchase three vehicles for the department. The Huron County commissioners approved the purchase of three 2021 Ford Utility Interceptor vehicles that will come with Ready for Patrol specifications for $140,952. "We're really appreciative of the commissioners," Huron County sheriff Todd Corbin said. "I'm happy we're getting the cruisers." Chief deputy Dave Ditz said he was able to lock 2020 prices for the vehicles. He said the vehicles will have to have equipment installed to be ready to be driven by the officers. Ditz said they received new computer stands for their vehicles, allowing officers to write up reports from their vehicles instead of returning to the office first. "They're so much better than what we've been using," he said. Corbin said he hopes the department is able to get back into the community to serve. "I'm looking forward to this year. Hopefully, we have a better year this year than last. COVID put a damper on everything," he said. "I want to get back to some consistency to where people can start intermingling." While the pandemic hasn't stopped the work at the sheriff's office from handling the jail or other aspects of the job, traffic stops have lessened, Corbin said, but overdoses and suicides have increased. "The only thing that really slowed down for us was just traffic stops. Everything else kind of picked up," he said. "We have to spend more money on buying the protective equipment to protect the officers and ensure that they have hand sanitizer and masks." Corbin said Huron County was in the state's top ten counties with overdoses in the past year. "People are still at home, people still have drug addictions. Suicide is another thing," he said. "When people are socially isolated and they're not getting interaction, they become more depressed and are more prone to do things."