The sheriff who cried wolf

When Portsmouth Sheriff Bill Watson threatened late last year to cease sending deputies to monitor metal detectors at the courthouse door unless he received more money from the city, it was clear he’d blustered one time too many.

The city’s judges quickly set him straight. And this week, the City Council — weary of the sheriff’s repeated vows to yank services if he didn’t get what he wanted — began preparations to pare his department’s budget to only the duties specified by state law.

It’s a regrettable but necessary step.

If Watson is under fiscal restraints so enormous that he can’t provide the core services required of city sheriffs in Virginia — courthouse security, operating the jail and serving civil papers — then he shouldn’t receive a penny extra from the city to engage in endeavors beyond that.

In recent years, Watson has been operating a seven-member patrol team intended to help the city’s police crack down on drug dealing and other criminal activity.

The program has drawn positive reviews from some residents. But Commonwealth’s Attorney Earle C. Mobley and former interim police chief William Corvello — a retired Virginia State Police superintendent — raised concerns about the increased involvement of the Sheriff’s Office in investigations.

Last fall, The Pilot editorial board endorsed Watson for a second term despite reservations about his behavior; his opponent in the general election appeared capable of growing into the job but lacked enough experience to justify ousting the incumbent.

The reservations about Watson included his habit of delivering ultimatums to the council when budget talks weren’t going his way. To some extent, his frustrations were understandable. Salaries for deputies, for instance, needed to be raised to regionally competitive levels.

But Watson’s antics were inevitably disruptive or just plain silly.

Early last year, he had inmate work crews stop washing city-owned vehicles during a dispute.

By year’s end, he was demanding that the council do more to make up for state budget cuts or he’d pull deputies from courthouse security and “people will walk through that courthouse like it was Central Park.”

This week, after more complaints from Watson about a revenue-sharing agreement for housing federal prisoners, his past defenders — including council members Elizabeth Psimas and Steve Heretick —  said enough was enough.

The council will now look at bolstering the Police Department’s funding. The Sheriff’s Office will return to its traditional roles. And Watson, perhaps, will learn to tone down the bombast and focus on his department’s core duties.