Monthly Report for March 2017

Dear Citizens,

This month we held our NCSO Annual Departmental Meeting and Awards Ceremony. Congratulations to Deputy Casey Gaston on being awarded Employee of the Year. Deputy Ricky Ragan was awarded Deputy of the Year. Deputy Jim Johnson with over 50 years of law enforcement experience is the Detention Officer of the Year. Congratulations to these Deputies for a job well done during 2016. I also would like to congratulate and say how much I appreciate all our employees for the job they do every day serving the citizens of Navarro County.

Be aware of the W-2 Phishing scam targeting schools, restaurants, hospitals, tribal groups and others. Here’s how the scam works: Cybercriminals use various spoofing techniques to disguise an email to make it appear as if it is from an organization executive. The email is sent to an employee in the payroll or human resources departments, requesting a list of all employees and their W-2 forms. Employers should report W-2 thefts immediately to the IRS.

I am very thankful to report that earlier in the month, Deputy Eric Wilson was not injured after being involved in a head on collision while driving on 7th Avenue near S 30th in Corsicana. Deputy Wilson was driving westbound on 7th Avenue about 4 am in the morning when a vehicle driving eastbound veered into his lane and struck his patrol vehicle head on.

The patrol vehicle was disabled but the other vehicle continued east for several hundred feet striking a sign before pulling into a parking lot where the driver fled on foot. Deputy Wilson, although dazed from the air bag deployment, attempted to give chase on foot but lost sight of the suspect. We are extremely grateful our Deputy did not suffer any significant injuries. The suspect was arrested later that night and booked into the Justice Center for evading arrest.

This month the NCSO, DPS criminal investigation division and CPD participated in a sex offender compliance check of 66 registered sex offenders in Navarro County.

We investigated a murder-suicide scene in the 4600 block of SE 1090.

I am proud to report the promotion of Corporal Brandon Bates to the rank of Sergeant. Sgt. Bates will supervise the patrol division on one of our evening shifts. Congratulations Sgt. Bates.

The NCSO investigated numerous cases in the month of February of credit card abuse involving Valero gas credit cards. The victimized cardholders are from Navarro County but the fraudulent credit card account activity is occurring in Florida. If you have a Valero gas credit card account please monitor your account for fraudulent activity and report any credit card abuse to your local law enforcement agency.

I was proud and honored earlier this week to represent Navarro County as I, along with 120 other Sheriff's from across Texas, were invited to the Capitol during the 85th Legislative session in Austin.

The Sheriff's Office had 2,993 calls for service in February and our Dispatch received 1,846 calls for assistance to 9-1-1. There were approximately 344 persons arrested and booked into the Navarro County Justice Center and the average daily jail population was 238 inmates. The Narcotics Unit arrested eight suspects, filed five criminal cases and served five outstanding arrest warrants. Eleven inmates were transferred to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and eleven other inmates were transferred to State Jail and SAFP units to serve their sentences. This month we estrayed three horses and transported it to the county farm at Angus. We also sold one estray calf for $614.43 at Corsicana Livestock Auction. We harvested and sold $585 dollars in pecans from our county farm at Petty’s Chapel.

Congratulations to Deputies Alberto Espinosa and Randall (Boog) Blackwell on being named Cotton Patch-Corsicana Daily Sun First Responder of the week award winners this month.

We had two resignations in February. We currently have one vacancy in detention. As in the past, applications will continue to be taken for any vacancy until the position is filled.

We would like to welcome our new employees Della Francis assigned to communications, Kevin Jernigan has returned to detention, Brandy Vasquez assigned to detention, David Stanley assigned to patrol, and Patrick Rider is assigned to courthouse security. Deputies Vasquez, Stanley and Rider are all recent graduates of the Navarro College Police Academy and are all certified Texas peace officers. Congratulations to you all and welcome to the NCSO.

"Moral fortitude is not only having the courage to stand for what you believe in, but having the strength of character to believe in what you will stand for.” –Michael Springer

As always, God bless and be safe
Sheriff Elmer Tanner