Good money, Good morning, good morning, and welcome, welcome, welcome.
It is time now for our community connection right here and k one the
one you trust. We have Sheriff Scott Owen in the studio today and Sheriff,
how are we doing today? We're doing pretty good. Tom, It's
good to be here. Well, you're you've been busy because you and your
team and some volunteers have been putting together Thanksgiving for some folks who've kind of
had a little little harder than most. Yes, it's uh. We do
this every year and actually it was a tradition started the way back when Sheriff
Ballard was sheriff in the two thousands, and our reserve unit goes together and
we gather names of needy families. Lee and my assistant who kind of ramrods
the program in house, she informed me this morning that we have twenty families
that we're going to provide meals for and the donations have been coming in very
very good. I was just through the conference room and we have twenty baskets
plumb full and they're picking up turkeys today and we have another Delaware that's supposed
to be bringing something in for each one of the baskets. So I think
it's going to be a good year. The reserves and the deputies are going
to start deliveries tomorrow on Wede morning, so we'll be getting that done special
thanks to the community. We can't do this without the community. This is
all community involvement and through our sheriff Reserve deputies. They like to thank Kevin
Lynch with Remax. He was a food collector this year. Always is your
neighbor across the street Boulevard Pharmacy, They're always good for you. And the
co Penn for h Kids did a can did a food drive and they brought
down lots of food for us and a really good project for them. And
as always Bortsvieoll Radio has been a great community partner in this. Thank you
very much. We appreciate the opportunity to get the word out and to help
this all happen every year because this is one of the best projects we can
think of. I think it is and we hope to continue it even after
I'm long gone. So I think it's going to be here for I think
it's here to stay. I think we're good. Yeah. The Sheriff's office
been kind of busy with a lot of different things, and not only with
the volunteering and getting out there in the meeting and greeting folks, but which
is very important, by the way, But you've got some officers who actually
visit the schools, don't you. We have a during the school year.
It's actually a part time position, yeah, but we have a full time
school resource officer, Deputy Chris Forrest at Copine School. He's a native of
Copenn and the school system actually kind of handpicked him and he fell into this
and wanted to do it. Chris is a former Washington County sheriff deputy from
over twenty years ago, and he's a retired Tulsa Police officer, so he's
spent his life serving the community. And now he's on campus at Copenn all
year long and he'll take his summer break started back next year. That's pretty
darn good. You know. The thing is with the Sheriff's office is that
I've only been around since you've been sheriff here in Washington County, is that
you go to the extra effort to ensure that your officers are approachable, You're
approachable, and that we're here to help. And it seems like in the
mainstream media, a bad picture was painted a police officers, and I think
intentionally by some trying to influence folks, saying that officers had a chip on
their shoulder and that they were mean spirited. And I've never found that to
be true here. I think we live in a very unique community. I
think we do too. The community respects law enforcement and supports law enforcement,
and in turn, our law enforcement becomes respectful of the people we serve.
It falls back to the adage of our parents and our Sunday school teachers taught
us years ago. When we're grown up, we want to treat people as
if we would want to be treated ourselves. And we have people that come
with needs in crisis. Normally, no one contacts law enforcement unless something is
wrong or something has happened, and those need to be as positive a contact
as it can be. And we need to be supportive if that's the casion
of combat over some if they've broken the lawn, or we need to deal
with that accordingly, but only within the constraints of policy. But we're here
to serve the citizens and that's what we do. We do and I love
it. September I had thirty eight years in law enforcement. Wow, wee
I did. September ninth of eighty five. I signed on at Bartlesville worked
there till twenty ten. Wow. It's a great place. I love the
police department and we all work together really well. Speaking of that you do,
there are things that we don't even know about, but I know that
there are. Sometimes there are tasks for us special units where you have to
use other agencies and you collaborate and you work together and you share resources in
order to bring out a positive change or a positive resolution to a situation.
Along that line, we have just entered into an interlocal agreement with Bartlesville City
and their officers to cross commission deputize a select number of officers for drug interdiction
and street crimes enforcement throughout the entire county, working with our deputies alongside our
deputies. And what it does, that's going to give us a more opportunity
to hopefully stop the flow of drugs, which is a crisis nationwide, and
create a better living environment in the county. Force. Wow, I just
caught wind of just as we were walking in of a successful resolution to a
situation where many many grams of meth were found and they're no longer on the
street. Very large caizar. It was right here in Bartlesville. Some of
the Bartsfield guys did a really good job. Oh my goodness. Aches.
Now there are folks who I think know that we do have a bit of
a drug trafficking problem here in our county. I don't think they're quite aware
of the magnitude. A lot of this goes under the cover of darkness.
I'm sure a lot of it does. And with us being on a major
traffic corridor from the south to north, as you can get on Highway seventy
five and go to Dallas Houston really easy, go north to Chicago really easy.
It's a corridor. Any major highway as a trafficking corridor, and the
more people we can add with our deputies and mutual aid agreements, cooperative efforts
with other agencies highway patrol, BARLAAPD, drug enforcement agencies, hopefully we can
curtail some of this. Folks have been kind of curious too about when crimes
are committed by either you know, US citizens or tribal citizens in any combination
thereof is there a process by which that is handled with our Washington County deputies
or is there a chriss deputy disease with the tribes? There is. We
work in the Cherokee Nation, and the Cherokee Nation has a cross deputized all
of the Washington County deputies as Cherokee marshals to work in there with them and
alongside them to enforce the laws both of the state and of the tribe.
Tribes adopted most of the state statutes, and it just depends on their tribal
status whether they're tried and state court or in the tribal court or in federal
court, depending on the crime I see. So everything is all taken care
of, so there's not going to be anything shocking or surprising. No,
it really enforcing the law is enforcing the law and works the same pretty much
across the boarder. The only difference is a little different paperwork and what courts
do you send us paperwork to and who where and how do we hold the
prisoners. So the crime that came to mind was something that happened about a
year ago. It's north of Dewey where two people lost their lives and there
are two young people involved. One will go through the traditional judicial system here.
The other because of a tribal affiliation, will be tried elsewhere. And
there are folks kind of wondering about that. Well, there's a capital case.
So it was one of the classified crimes that the federal people will at
BI and US Attorney's Office will prosecute on a federal level. It won't be
in trouble for it will be in the federal court for that. So getting
back to what's going to happen tomorrow, our deputies and our reserves are going
to go out and they're going to take care of some families, are going
to drop off some Thanksgiving goodies. They are they're going to be out in
uniform and share cars bringing the Thanksgiving meal. So it's one of those really
good feelings, isn't It's the holiday season. We're starting to get into the
Christmas shows and the Thanksgiving shows and makes you want to watch Charlie Brown and
the Grinch and all that. Well, I was going to bring that up
because hot off the heels of turkey and fictions, we've got Christmas tree and
ribbons and bowls and that stuff coming up, and we're looking forward to participating
in the Christmas parades this year. Washington County actually had three Veterans Day parades,
and speaking of that, I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank
the veterans current and past that have served our country and make this land of
the Free is made that way by the home of being the home of the
braves. Indeed, we can't send us so hats off to the veterans.
And I was just overjoyed to be able to know that we have three Veterans
parades honoring those men and women. And you know something, we also add
some beautiful weather for that day. And I can tell you the deputies that
I saw here in town during our parade, we're having a pretty good time
of it. Yeah, there are a lot of great people, a lot
of kids, and you know, nothing lights up a person in the uniform
and seeing those kids waving at you. Yeah, that's all right, and
they're why we do it. There a future, Yeah, indeed they are
now if anybody wants to learn about how they can help you out as far
as not only the Thanksgiving but the upcoming the upcoming Christmas drive that you have,
how do we go about getting the information and getting materials and cash well
too, exactly we speaking of We actually sent out some contribution letters to several
many of our community partners and supporters. They went out in the mail yesterday.
He will be accepting cash donations at the Sheriff's office. We're through the
mail. Check to be made up of Washington County Sheriff Reserve and ear marked
is Christmas Fund. And we'll also accept gifts. If you don't want to
send money, or you have a gift you'd like to donate, we would
gladly accept that at the Sheriff's office for our reserves. I know folks were
hauling bicycles a couple of years ago. Those things get in pretty anything.
Yeah, well we will. We will be shopping here about the fifth of
December, so it's quickly approaching. Keep that in your hearts and minds and
wallets please. That's correct. And we appreciate the community because without the community
support, no this has ever happened. Sureff Owen, thank you very much,
really appreciate it. Oh by the way, where's your band playing?
Well, it looks like Twitter they play. That'd be easy. We're gonna
be at the Osage Casino on the twenty fourth, and we have a holiday
New Year's engagement a coffeeville for the shrine. Very good. That's always great.
I always tell people folks by Sheriff, get out sing yours and its
hands down. He wins every time. Thank Tom, Thank you, Sheriff
Ohen didn't mean to make you blush here