The new Sheriff of Belmont County has added “In God We Trust” to the rear of the department’s vehicles after seeing other Ohio counties have added the four words to their cruisers.
“In God We Trust,” of course, appears on United States currency, and it also was adopted by the U.S. government as the country’s official motto in 1956. “In God We Trust” was first inscribed on coins during the Civil War.
“It’s something that means a lot to me,” explained Belmont County Sheriff James Zusack. “I like when you see one of our cars and you read that, it makes you feel like we’ll take care of the situation the right way. I found out some counties in Ohio have placed ‘In God We Trust’ and I thought it was a great idea.
“When I saw the cruisers in Columbus while attending one of the classes for new sheriffs in Ohio, and I really liked the way it looked,” he said. “It is on our currency in our country so if it’s good enough for our money, it’s fine on our cruisers. I also think that when people see it, it might make them feel good about us being there.”
Once the appropriate lettering was added to the department’s cars and SUVs, Zusack received a positive response from deputies and staff members, but once a photo of “In God We Trust” was posted on the Sheriff’s Office Facebook page, a few critics surfaced.
“Our deputies seem to like it, too, and several of them have told me they feel like it was a good idea,” said Zusack, who served for 12 years as chief deputy for former sheriff Dave Lucas. “I did put it up on our Facebook page and there were a couple of people with negative things to say about it, so I just took it down because my intention wasn’t to start a debate.
“I knew I have some people disagree with it, and that’s fine. We all don’t agree on everything all of the time,” he said. “But I know the majority of people in Belmont County agree with our trust in God, so the majority rules in my book and that’s why it’s on our website and on our cruisers.”
Protecting and Serving
Zusack said soon after announcing his candidacy for the Sheriffs position that he would continue interacting with the residents of Belmont County if elected, and his schedule for the past week is a prime example of how he plans to make good on those promises. It all started, in fact, with a first-responder meeting at the Bridgeport Pizza Hut.
“It’s something I knew I wanted to do when I was elected because I think communication with all of our communities is important for our department so we know what issues are out there in the county,” Zusack said. “When we all get together we can talk about the trends our police officers are seeing because sometimes those suspects go from one area to another.
“We also had some folks there from Ohio Highway Patrol and from a couple of fire departments in the county,” the sheriff said. “We were in Bridgeport for the first meeting, and next month’s meeting is scheduled to be in Shadyside.”
Zusack, along with Chief Deputy Glenn Moore, visited with the students at St. Clairsville High School to continue his county-wide conversation about the use of cell phones and the threats against schools made last September in both Jefferson and Belmont counties.
In a LEDE News article on September 23, his advice to the county’s school children was simple:
“… if they get a text or a message about a school threat, please show an adult and don’t share it. Show your mother, your father, a grandparent or guardian. Don’t share it. If you share it or add to it and then share it, we will find you.”
He continued offering the same counsel Thursday morning in St. Clairsville.
“I have continued to go to our schools to talk to the students about their cell phones and the responsibilities that go along with having a cell phone so they know better before they use them to send threats to our schools,” Zusack said. “When we have kids play those games, that disrupts everything in the county, so we talk to them when we visit the schools.
“It’s my plan to keep going to our schools, too, so we can continue to have that relationship, and we also go to the schools to recruit for the sheriff’s department,” he said. “If someone is interested in law enforcement, we would like to talk to them about a career here in Belmont County.”
