The Marshall County Sheriffs Office has had a busy year and Sheriff Yow would like to take the time to share some of the issues we faced going into the year of 2021.
Sheriff Yow initially noticed an immediate need for more Deputies.
Sheriff Yow started with 3 full time deputies and one part time Deputy.
These Deputies were patrolling the entire County with one deputy on per shift.
This was not covering the County like it needed to be covered.
Sheriff Yow watched the budget and was capable of hiring 7 Deputies including 4 part time Deputies: with one covered.
This allowed more coverage and quicker response to calls received.
This also allowed Deputies to have back up faster.
Sheriff Yow also changed the uniforms of the Marshall County Sheriffs Office and began getting the Sh eriffs Office into a uniform presence.
Sheriff yow has replaced County Sheriffs Office and began getting the Sh eriffs Office into a uniform presence.and added to the sheriffs Office fleet by purchasing 6 vehicles.
Sheriffs Office helped conduct a reserve school and is preparing to have another Reserve School where the reserve force for the Marshall County Sheriff's Office will go to 20 reserve Deputies.
Sheriff Yow wanted the Citizens of our Communities to be involved with the Marshall County Sheriffs Office and started working on the first Citizens Academy.
This Academy will allow our Citizens to have an inside look at basic operations of the Marsh all County Sheriffs Office and allow Citizens to under stand how and why we do things in a certain way.
The more our Citizens are involved the more transpar ent and trust we have with the communities in which we serve.
Marshall County Deputies have been involved in several community events and will continue to attend for support or be in community events.
One of the areas that Sheriff Yow was asked the most questions about was traffic enforcement.
In 2020 the Marshall County Sheriffs Office conducted approximately 200 traffic stops across the County.
In 2021 the Marshall County Sheriffs Office conducted approximately 1,000 traffic stops that led to arrest for vanous cnmes.
The Marshall County Sheriffs Office in these traffic stops arrested per son(s) for D.U.I., drugs and weapon violations.
Another area Sheriff Yow saw a need was drug enforcement in Marshall County, Mar shall County, drugs and thievery go hand in hand.
Sheriff Yow talked with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and currently the Marshall County Sheriffs Office has an Oklahoma Bureau ofN arcotics Agent stationed at the sheriffs Office to help with any leads we receive on drug activity.
Working with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, we were able to arrest 38 people for the trafficking of pounds of methamphetamine in our County. Some of these people are awaiting a Court date to face justice for their crimes.
This relationship will help the Marshall County Sherifl's Office to continue to work the drug issues in our County and constantly pursue those individuals who want to bring and distribute those drugs in our County.
Working relationships between Agencies was another issue for Sheriff Yow and those r elationships have grown strong, with all agencies helping one another as needed. This is important not only for Marshall County but the surrounding Counties. The Marshall County Sheriffs Office has worked hard to build and keep these relationships strong along with the other Agencies.
Sheriff Yow signed a contract with the Chickasaw Nation Lighthorse Police Department to be cross commissioned.
This allows the Marshall County Sheriffs Office to serve all our Citizens and get them the help they need as fast as possible.
The Lighthorse Police Department and the Marshall County sheriffs Office has a strong working relationship.
The Marshall County Sheriff Office has also signed an agreement to hold tribal members in the Detention Center.
The Kingston and Madill Police Department are another strong partnership where we all help each other when needed.
Relationships between all the fire Districts in Marshall County is another strong relationship and we help each other when needed.
The relationship between the Marshall County Sheriffs Office and State Agencies is strong and we will assist each other when needed.
Sheriff Yow was faced with several issues concerning the Detention Center and the maintenance on the facility.
Sheriff Yow had to get several people involved in the restoration of the facility to fix several items that was just simply left undone.
This did cost some money to fix those issues and now we are constantly checking the building for defects and getting those fixed as we find them.
Sheriff Yow after several conversations with the Department of Corrections decided to pull the contract with the Department of Corrections.
The amount that D.O.C. was paying to house prisoners inside the Detention Center was not covering the cost of housing the prisoners.
There were several issues pertaining to the prisoners that were not being done correctly when Sheriff Yow took office.
After hours and days of thought, Sheriff Yow made the decision to pull the contract with the Department of Corrections to house their prisoners.
Sheriff Yow upon taking office read the Policy and Procedures for the Marshall County Detention Center and quickly realized the policies and procedures dated back to 1993. The Detention center could not follow the antiquated policies that were in effect.
Sheriff Yow spent several days and hours going over the policy and procedure and updated the Detention Center with new Policy and Procedures that meet the requirements of the State of Oklahoma along with actual practices of the Detention Center.
Sheriff Yow is now looking at the current policy and procedure for the Sheriffs Office and going to update the current policy and procedure for the Sheriffs Office.
Sheriff Yow learned that some of the bullet proof vests the Deputies were wearing (if they had one) were 10 to 15 years old.
The life expectancy of BPV is an average of 5 years.
Sheriff Yow found and applied for a grant to cover some of the cost of BPV. The Marshall County Sheriffs Office was awarded the grant and all full time Deputies have new BPV purchased for them
Sheriff Yow learned the Mar shall County sheriffs Office does receive some funds for Court House Security.
When Sheriff Yow learned of this, Sheriff Yow assigned one certified Deputy to be security at the Court House.
Sheriff Yow applied for another grant to replace the live scan fingerprint machine inside the Detention Center.
The grant was awarded to the Marsh all County Sheriffs Office and the Sheriff s Office v.rill be purchasing a new machine that is needed in the very near future.
This will allow the current machine to be placed in our lobby to be used for Citizens who come in and need to be finge1·printed. This will allow our Citizens to not have to enter the Detention Center to be fingerprinted. This also helps keep our facility secure.
Sheriff Yow applied for a grant to purchase thermal / night vision equipment andthis grant was awarded to the Marshall Count Sheriffs Office and it allowed us to purchase 5 sets of thermal I night vision.
Sheriff Yow and Under-sheriff Bridgeman have recently addressed an issue with investigations and Sheriff Yow just authorized another Deputy to be an investigator, who will follow up on cases reported and seek justice through investigations for the victims in our County.
One investigator will centrate on working child cases alongside with D.H.S.
One investigator will follow up on all other property crimes.
This will assist victims of property crime in having a contact and with the follow up involved with these invest igations.
The Marshall County Sheriff Office will not lose any patrolling by this move.
Sheriff Yow, Undersheriff Bridgeman and the Administrative Assistant work hard every day to ensure we are covering our County and we also think about ways to better serve our County Citizens in things the Sheriffs Office does.
The Marshall County Sheriffs Office has an outstanding jail administrator, Undersheriff, dispatch center and administrative clerk who work very hard for the citizens of our County and they are greatly appreciated.
Sheriff Yow truly believes that when Law Enforcement and the community work together, there is nothing we cannot accomplish.
Sheriff Yow asks that when you see something that does not look right to please notify the Sheriffs Office because you never know, the tip you give could be what we need to bring people to justice who commit crimes in our County.
Marshall County is a Beautiful County filled with outstanding citizens who just want to work, spend time with family and enjoy life. Our Good Citizens outnumber the bad. The Mar shall County Sheriffs Office appreciates our Citizens, and we are here to serve.