Speaker 1: I'm now I'm for community connection right here on K
Speaker 1: one the one you trust being brought to you by
Speaker 1: Wesley and Kitty College and also Tall Grass Motors. Sheriff
Speaker 1: Scott Owen is with us here today and Sheriff, I
Speaker 1: understand that night of prayer was a doozy last night.
Speaker 2: It was I tended to do with my wife and
Speaker 2: very very pleased with the out comfort and it was just.
Speaker 3: A good message and much needed.
Speaker 1: Let's yeah, boy, I tell you we were living in
Speaker 1: some trying times.
Speaker 2: I was very impressed that they put a lot of
Speaker 2: effort in it and had a lot of really good speakers.
Speaker 1: Very good. You've been busy with a lot of things.
Speaker 1: I know the rain kind of kept you hopping there
Speaker 1: for a little bit earlier this week.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it seems like the monsoon season is upon us
Speaker 2: and we've we've had I've been out on patrol with
Speaker 2: the guys as an extra unit some when trying to
Speaker 2: help them chase their calls and get where they need
Speaker 2: to coordinate with the County Commissioner's road crews about barrick
Speaker 2: age and high water. We were fortunate that we had
Speaker 2: two calls that I know of of cars in the
Speaker 2: water well way three counting one by Vera. Fortunately no
Speaker 2: one injured. Good, no fatalities, Thank god. Don't get out
Speaker 2: of the car, turn around, don't drown.
Speaker 1: That's right. You know. I lost a friend who always preached,
Speaker 1: never get out of that vehicle. If you find yourself
Speaker 1: in a situation that comes upon you before you see it.
Speaker 1: What did he do? Got out of that vehicle? Took
Speaker 1: him and it just happens. So you've got to be careful.
Speaker 1: A lot of people don't realize it, but floods take
Speaker 1: more lives than just about any other weather things.
Speaker 2: They really do, Yeah, they really do. Traffic accidents are bad,
Speaker 2: but drowning, they say, is one of the highest causes
Speaker 2: of death and people involved in incidents across the nation.
Speaker 1: Wow, it's just crazy.
Speaker 3: It's only before you know it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we've got a lot of things going on. Busy summer,
Speaker 1: don't you. And it starts like hearing about a week.
Speaker 2: It seems like we're getting there. We've got well just
Speaker 2: coming up here in about a week. We didn't talk
Speaker 2: about this, but Trick County Technology Centers having their career
Speaker 2: Pharaoh made the ninth We're going to have a Washington
Speaker 2: County Sheriff's Department booth set up for the students that
Speaker 2: may have an interest in public safety, law enforcement, or
Speaker 2: contention career, and we'll have that staff with some handouts,
Speaker 2: some applications, people to ask them questions. A large number
Speaker 2: of my staff, especially on the attention side, our younger
Speaker 2: people fresh out of high school or college, because I'm
Speaker 2: allowed to utilize eighteen year olds in that facility in
Speaker 2: that job description, and I really have a good group
Speaker 2: of young people working for me this time.
Speaker 1: Wow, that's great. You know, we think of law enforcement.
Speaker 1: We think of the tenured, the journeyman, and the veteran,
Speaker 1: and yeah, things like that. It's nice to know you've
Speaker 1: got young people coming up to fill some boots in.
Speaker 2: The years and we're becoming I think we're starting to
Speaker 2: become successful and get ahead of that eight ball that
Speaker 2: we went through here a few years ago with the
Speaker 2: defund the police campaigns and nobody wanted to be in
Speaker 2: law enforcement. And uh, we've been able to actually move
Speaker 2: several of our young detention staff into police officer certification
Speaker 2: and into field training and preparing them for shift assignment
Speaker 2: on road patrol or transport division. So we like to
Speaker 2: draw from within. It's kind of like going to work
Speaker 2: and the mail room and working your way out of
Speaker 2: the mail room. Yeah, and it can be done. It
Speaker 2: can be done, and we're proving that. We're very fortunate
Speaker 2: it allowed me to move on my trolling out to
Speaker 2: an investigator's position. And we're very proud of will Gerhart.
Speaker 2: He graduated the OSBI Criminal Investigation Academy yesterday.
Speaker 1: Nice, he's got.
Speaker 2: Another accolade under his belt. We're proud of him there.
Speaker 2: And we have two current jail supervisors that are in
Speaker 2: the Bartlesville B Park Academy, which is a basic a
Speaker 2: police academy that is hosted and operated by the Bartisville
Speaker 2: Police Department in conjunction with Tri County Tech's Public Safety
Speaker 2: Training program right here in town.
Speaker 1: So you have to ship people halfway across the state
Speaker 1: to get them ready to go anymore.
Speaker 3: So we utilize both services. But we've got that going.
Speaker 2: Like I said the career Fair, my reserve program is
Speaker 2: started to grow a little bit. I've got about a
Speaker 2: dozen reserve deputies nice and they are their first big
Speaker 2: spring assignment is going to be the Delaware Pow Wow.
Speaker 2: We work that every year for all three days Emergency
Speaker 2: Management will set up their command trailer and we'll have
Speaker 2: everything in that commendator that we haven't dispatched, basically, And.
Speaker 1: You know, that's a great celebration up there. It really is.
Speaker 2: And if you haven't attended a lot of people, you
Speaker 2: haven't attended one, I'd urge you to go because it's
Speaker 2: it's a real tribute to to people's heritage in this area.
Speaker 2: It is, and it's it's our pleasure to work with
Speaker 2: him and honor and be a part of that program.
Speaker 3: So we'll be doing that.
Speaker 2: SunFest is coming up first week last weekend, my first weekend,
Speaker 2: and so to speak, we'll be out there with a booth.
Speaker 1: You all anxirey teams. We tried to you're usually pretty
Speaker 1: close to us.
Speaker 2: Yep, we'll be there. I'll be there all weekend pretty much,
Speaker 2: off and on.
Speaker 3: So here now.
Speaker 2: Looking forward to that, actually me too, so but we're
Speaker 2: doing that. We've got had a lot going on in
Speaker 2: the jail. Of course, our jail is now I believe
Speaker 2: they're not fifteen years old. It seems it doesn't look
Speaker 2: that seems like yesterday. Well that's because got a really
Speaker 2: good jail staff and I've got a really good maintenance
Speaker 2: staff that are proactive in nature.
Speaker 3: They watch for things going wrong.
Speaker 2: We have we've had to do a lot, but fortunately
Speaker 2: we've been blessed with the funding to take care of everything.
Speaker 2: There you go and pretty much every pod downer has
Speaker 2: been gone through, things like electrical and lighting, plumbing, things
Speaker 2: of that nature. A lot of new replacements and painting.
Speaker 2: So it basically is a fifteen year old jail that
Speaker 2: looks about like a one year old jail.
Speaker 1: You know, the cosmetics and the mechanical is fine, but
Speaker 1: you know what you're doing with the jail that a
Speaker 1: lot of people are talking about. You're making sure that
Speaker 1: they say, yeah, I was there, nothing against the folks,
Speaker 1: but I don't want to go back. You've got some
Speaker 1: great programs that are changing the recipitism.
Speaker 3: Yes we do.
Speaker 2: My jail administrator, James Pendergrave, he my lieutenant in the jail,
Speaker 2: is we have him, and I have added a second
Speaker 2: assistant jail administrator, so Terry Woods. He's former sheriff's deputy,
Speaker 2: former Barsvill police. He came back to me is now
Speaker 2: one of my assistant jail administrators. Is is Mitch Doyle,
Speaker 2: who has operated the inmate work Crew for years and
Speaker 2: worked in the jail and commissary in the kitchen down there.
Speaker 2: Those three men are instrumental and making a lot of
Speaker 2: changes in major support for me in that area. And
Speaker 2: I can't say thank you to those men enough. But
Speaker 2: we have educational programs, ged programs, re entry programs, jail
Speaker 2: ministry programs, all those things, and it's primarily because these
Speaker 2: men pushed that envelope and make it happen.
Speaker 1: One of the things you've got is like a parenting
Speaker 1: class too.
Speaker 3: We have a parenting class.
Speaker 1: To guide them so that they're their kids don't follow
Speaker 1: a generational change.
Speaker 2: Well that and it also if mom or dad has
Speaker 2: been in custody for a while, they will they have
Speaker 2: to re enter society, have to re enter the family unit.
Speaker 2: And some of them may be in there for drugs
Speaker 2: and may be in for family offenses or things of
Speaker 2: that nature. Some may be in for simple child support
Speaker 2: for a long term and behalf some of those. But
Speaker 2: the goal is to preserve the family unit and make
Speaker 2: it easier for them to get in. We've had some
Speaker 2: multiple success stories where we run into our former customers
Speaker 2: that in society when they're out, and I have found
Speaker 2: them in various jobs that they've landed and being quighly successful.
Speaker 2: One comes to mind. He stayed with us for a
Speaker 2: while and then went to doc came back. First thing
Speaker 2: he did was to look us up, tell us thank you.
Speaker 2: And then he got a job in a car a house,
Speaker 2: enrolled in college, gotting derries and that is guy, a
Speaker 2: real job in the field he wants.
Speaker 3: To work in.
Speaker 1: Wow, it's great. I know another one of your guys
Speaker 1: that I went through the system came out a change man,
Speaker 1: now owns a business and hires people here in town.
Speaker 1: You got a legitimate that's.
Speaker 2: Just because the business, just because a person makes a mistake.
Speaker 1: This is not the end.
Speaker 3: It could be the beginning of God opening another door
Speaker 3: for him.
Speaker 1: That's exactly what happened to him as a star back.
Speaker 2: So that makes me feel good about that. We've got
Speaker 2: car show in October. Doesn't seem like it's right on us,
Speaker 2: but it will be right on us.
Speaker 1: That summer goes by so fast.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're we're prepared, starting to prepare for that, starting
Speaker 2: some couple of fundraising projects.
Speaker 1: And I took you a look at the forecast for October.
Speaker 1: It's not going to rain this time.
Speaker 3: Thank goodness.
Speaker 1: So we will.
Speaker 2: Yeah, a couple of fundraisers, if I might mention June
Speaker 2: the I believe it's June to seventh. The Masonic Lodge
Speaker 2: Fraternity will be hosting Art Sheriff Reserve Benefit Breakfast for
Speaker 2: the purpose of Christmas funding and Thanksgiving funding. Same way
Speaker 2: with the Eagles. They're gonna have us a bingo for that.
Speaker 2: The car show kind of works its own.
Speaker 1: Deal, but these others are great reminders that you can
Speaker 1: have fun while raising funds.
Speaker 3: Yeah we can. We were last year.
Speaker 2: I don't quote me, but I believe we had one
Speaker 2: hundred and either one hundred and twenty three or one
Speaker 2: hundred and forty three cars enter our car show.
Speaker 3: Oh wow, and they were some very nice ones.
Speaker 1: Every time I've been to there, it's been just a knockout.
Speaker 1: You're amazed at just how well preserved some of them are,
Speaker 1: and then how well enhanced the rest of them are.
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, or both, and then you get the guys
Speaker 2: that just love to enhance those rat rods and bring them.
Speaker 3: It gets going on this weekend to do it.
Speaker 1: So, yeah, we'll get a little preview up there so
Speaker 1: with the Sheriff's office, So you guys are full tilt
Speaker 1: heading into summer. Uh. Also summer, you know, it gets
Speaker 1: busy for all law enforcement. It's because people are out.
Speaker 1: Folks are driving, maybe going a little bit further distances
Speaker 1: than what they did during the colder months. Yeah, they
Speaker 1: gotta be careful out there more than just them on
Speaker 1: the road.
Speaker 3: Well, that's true.
Speaker 2: And you know with the there's several things, especially in
Speaker 2: rural areas, that I'd like to remind the people to
Speaker 2: watch out for. Is the grass is gonna be growing, Okay,
Speaker 2: all the ranchers are gonna be processing. Hey, you're gonna
Speaker 2: have slow moving egg vehicles on the road. Usually the
Speaker 2: alcohol consumption goes up, so our a restorations will go
Speaker 2: up some probably, uh in that area. What we want
Speaker 2: to do is reinforce the fact that if you're going
Speaker 2: to be doing that, know your limit and always designated driver.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it's key. Yeah.
Speaker 2: The last figures I saw, if one would be getting
Speaker 2: arrested for a DUI, time you finish with while your
Speaker 2: fins your costs, your insurance increases, schools you have to
Speaker 2: go to in driver's license reinstatements, things and such. Probably
Speaker 2: about ten thousand dollars on the low end.
Speaker 1: Yeah, not really worth one night out on the town.
Speaker 2: Unless you're risking your life and anybody else's out there.
Speaker 2: So it's been a good year. I've this year started
Speaker 2: my beginning, my second term elected second term, and I
Speaker 2: look forward to being here through twenty nine. And as
Speaker 2: we get there, I'll decide if I want to keep
Speaker 2: them on working and dry for another term or hand
Speaker 2: the torch to someone else.
Speaker 1: One other thing, Scott, summertime we see some problems with
Speaker 1: drugs too, and it seems like they're a little bit
Speaker 1: more noticed in the summertime. I know that drug abuse
Speaker 1: happens twenty five, but we see it, Yeah, a.
Speaker 3: Lot more we do. And you hit the nail on
Speaker 3: the head.
Speaker 2: There's a lot of our homeless community oftentimes falls into that,
Speaker 2: and they're always out and in view, and if they
Speaker 2: do come across that or become involved partaking there, any
Speaker 2: bizarre behavior will cause an encounter. Sometimes it's easy, other
Speaker 2: times it's not.
Speaker 1: So.
Speaker 3: One thing that.
Speaker 2: You know it's being addressed along the line of the
Speaker 2: homeless is Barslow's got a ongoing program and in conjunction
Speaker 2: with Grand Mental Health and Commune resources that they're interacting
Speaker 2: and have a homeless project going where they monitor them,
Speaker 2: try to help them get them pointed the right way.
Speaker 2: They just assigned another young officer who required to go
Speaker 2: out into the county occasionally, so we have had a
Speaker 2: local agreement with them, and we actually cross commission deputized
Speaker 2: him to work outside the city with us and for
Speaker 2: US regarding homeless issues. So we're having a cooperative effort
Speaker 2: with Bartlestviell Police Grand Mental Health. We have an agreement
Speaker 2: with Grant in our jail, so we actually have staffing
Speaker 2: for treatment and those inmates that used to require treatment
Speaker 2: didn't lose their treatment when they if they get sentenced
Speaker 2: to a jail term or something.
Speaker 1: I know that Washington County Emergency Management was working on
Speaker 1: enhancing even further our nine to one one keep abilities.
Speaker 1: You've got any update on that one, because I know
Speaker 1: that'll kind of everybody.
Speaker 2: That is always an ongoing thing. It's ever changing. The
Speaker 2: funding always changes, the rules change, the technology changes, the
Speaker 2: way we work all the time. Well, right about a
Speaker 2: perfect example right here the technology change. This is one
Speaker 2: of the refurbished, like brand new eight hundred Megahurtz radios
Speaker 2: that we talked to the nine on one Center with
Speaker 2: Bartlesville was the first department to get on complements of
Speaker 2: Phillips Petroleum in their Community Involvement Unit. Wow special thanks
Speaker 2: to Jinny Brown. They provided my department fifty handheld radios
Speaker 2: and a half a dozen mobile radios, and there were
Speaker 2: probably more coming. I will be purchasing some on top
Speaker 2: of that. But that eight hundred system is the system
Speaker 2: that is very clear. It puts us in command constant
Speaker 2: communication with Bartlesville. We can also visitor on the radio,
Speaker 2: coordinate efforts to mutilate, assist with no water that we
Speaker 2: weren't able to do before highway patrol. And I can't
Speaker 2: say thanks enough to Jinny Brown and Conico Phillips.
Speaker 1: Wow. They I understand they're a very good community partner.
Speaker 1: There weren't some parts of the county where we'd have
Speaker 1: some drop out as far there are and but now
Speaker 1: these things covered off well.
Speaker 2: Almost they if there are a couple of places that
Speaker 2: have a deficiency, but if that one doesn't.
Speaker 3: Work, and they're usually very low lying areas.
Speaker 2: Where you don't have a line of sight of repeater
Speaker 2: that we're working with Captain Hastings and Dave with the
Speaker 2: Phillips to identify the problems and enhance the tower locations
Speaker 2: if possible, probably working with some of the other counties
Speaker 2: in Kansas to give us better coverage up north.
Speaker 3: Things of that nature.
Speaker 2: But we we appreciate our community supporters and couldn't do
Speaker 2: without them, I'll tell.
Speaker 1: You, Sheriffauldsow is a pleasure to have you in. Thanks
Speaker 1: for covid by and visiting.
Speaker 3: It's been a nice visit. We could probably talk all day.
Speaker 1: We could, I know we could. We've done it, folks.
Speaker 1: You've been watching and listening to our community connections.
Speaker 3: When it comes to