Monthly Report for September 2015

Dear Citizens,

On Sept. 4, 2015, law enforcement officers across Texas activated their red and blue lights at 11 a.m. for one minute to honor slain Harris County Deputy Darren Goforth. We also joined hands around our flag pole and went to the Lord in prayer for brother Goforth and for all those in law enforcement. We truly appreciate Pastor Orlando Williams for coming by and asking to lead us in prayer. All through the day, there was an outpouring of support and gestures of gratitude by many Navarro County businesses and individuals who dropped by the Sheriff’s Office with various snacks, baked goods, drinks and handwritten cards of support. Mandy Tanner made blue ribbons and placed them around the Navarro County Justice Center, also, to show support and gratitude for law enforcement. We at the NCSO would again like to say thank you to the many across this county who showed their support and encouragement to law enforcement not just on that day, but all the days prior to and after as well.

We also would like to say a huge thank you to little Eli Clagett and his Aunt Kara, for coming by one day and bringing us water and snacks. This young man is such an inspiration and blessing to us and he's only 4 years old. Eli recently visited us twice and has always shown such interest for our well-being and does not hide the great respect he has for those of us in law enforcement. We are always glad to see Eli and have him come by, be able to interact with him and were proud and honored to give him a Junior Deputy Badge. We greatly appreciate Kara Clagett for taking the time to not only bring him, but for sharing him with us.

I am proud to announce that Dr. Danny Reeves, pastor of First Baptist Church in Corsicana, is now a part of the NCSO. Reeves joins Dr. Rick Lamb of Northside Baptist Church as together they will serve as our departmental chaplains. We are proud and honored to be affiliated with these two fine gentlemen who generously volunteer their time to support our officers and staff here at the NCSO.

We proudly participated with our color guard and a multi-agency honor guard in the Patriot's Day ceremony at Bunert Park. Our appreciation to all those who participated, attended and especially to the Freedom Flag Committee as well as the Corsicana Parks and Recreation Department, for this event would not be possible without them. We are also grateful to the Corsicana American Legion for the Certificate of Appreciation they presented to the NCSO honor guards for their participation in the 9/11 "Never Forget" ceremony.

We were honored once again when our Color Guard was invited to participate in the annual Kerens Homecoming Parade on Saturday, Sept. 19.

We would like to thank Pastor Danny Reeves and the members of First Baptist Church Corsicana for hosting a Law Enforcement Appreciation service on Sunday, Sept. 13. We were touched and honored to be invited to be a part of the service, "The Lord Is Our Shield," by the kind words we received, as well as the gift of the Peace Officers prayer card to carry with us, all the many prayers and especially the hospitality that was shown by their church family.

Congratulations to Deputy Juan Cura who transferred from Detention to Patrol Deputy, William R. Jock who promoted from patrol to the rank of CID Sergeant, and to Deputy Tyrone Martin who has successfully completed the patrol FTO program.

We welcome new Detention Officers William Vargo and Lex Hayes, as well as welcoming back Sharon Williams, who returned to the NCSO from another law enforcement agency and was also assigned to Detention.

We have taken down the recruitment sign this month as for the first time in many years, we were elated that earlier this month the NCSO had reached full staff. This was a huge accomplishment considering this time last year we had 19 vacant positions. I am extremely proud and grateful to all our officers both tenured and new, that work to serve our citizens during these difficult times. We hired four new officers this month but as a result of transfers and promotions and a resignation, we do now have two vacant patrol positions. These patrol positions require a State Certification. If you have submitted an application for other areas recently, it will remain on file in case of future vacancies. If you desire a career in law enforcement, please do not hesitate to still apply.

Congratulations to Capt. Stan Farmer and Sgt. Jeff Harbuck on winning the 2015 Habitat For Humanity Meat and Skeet at Upland Bird Country. This is the third year in a row that NCSO has brought home the championship trophy in this charity event.

Also a congratulations goes out to Chief Deputy Morris Steward for receiving the Kiwanis Club Deputy of the Year Award.

We are now in the process of changing from the old brown and tan uniforms to our new silver tan and green uniforms. Some of our officers have already made the transition but will take a few more weeks to complete.

An update on evolution this month at NCSO. We added stainless steel to the civilian side of our inmate visitation room to make it a more maintenance free environment. A Duralast roof was installed on the original Justice Center that had not been repaired since 1988. Rehab work, done by a local Corsicana business, was performed on the Justice Center annex roof so that we may be able to extend the serviceable life of that roof. All the condensation drain lines on the roof were replaced to fix drainage issues we had been experiencing. We have also done the dirt work and had the concrete slab poured for our new multi-purpose building that will eventually be built in the west parking lot. We have restriped the Justice Center parking lot and enhanced the capabilities of NCSO radio communications by placing a new radio site in Frost. This new site will assist officers with radio communication issued in the western portions of Navarro County.

The Navarro County Sheriff’s Office currently has 200 bales of 2015 hay for sale. About 250 bales have already sold. This hay is a mix of coastal, rye grass and johnson grass that was recently baled at our Petty's Chapel farm. The hay is 4x6, net wrapped, round bale hay at a price of $40 per roll with a 10 roll minimum purchase. Loading is available and if you are interested, you may contact Capt. Jeramy Phillips at 903-654-3002 to purchase.

The Sheriff's Office had 1,483 calls for service in September and our dispatch received 2,165 calls for assistance to 9-1-1.

There were approximately 290 persons arrested and booked into the Navarro County Justice Center and the average daily jail population was 204 inmates.

The Narcotics unit arrested 21 suspects, filed 20 criminal cases and served 13 outstanding arrest warrants. Eight inmates were transferred to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and three other inmates were transferred to State Jail and SAFP units to serve their sentences.

The Navarro County Sheriff’s Office and the Corsicana Police Department conducted compliance checks of known registered sex offenders to ensure these subjects are complying with their registration requirements, per Texas C.C.P. Chp 62. The objective of this mission for all participating agencies is to verify registry compliance, and to initiate fugitive investigations on those subjects found to be non-compliant with Texas sex offender registration laws and/or the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

The Navarro County Sheriff’s Office, Corsicana Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, U. S. Marshals Service (North Texas Fugitive Task Force), Rice Police Department, Kerens Police Department, Navarro County Constable Pct. 2, Adult Probations (Navarro County), Dallas Police Department - Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC Unit) all participated in the three day operation.

We estrayed four horses, three donkeys, eight head of cattle, and three lamas and transported them to the county farm at Angus. We sold two estray horses and seven estray donkeys at the Cleburne Horse Sale for $462.64. The NCSO collected $1,030.00 in estray fees this month.

We leave you this month with this thought: Men with good intentions make promises. Men with good character keep them. — Unknown

As always, God bless and be safe.

Sheriff Elmer Tanner