Refuse To Be A Victim

On October 22, 2011, your Sheriff’s Office hosted a Refuse To Be A Victim seminar at the Oconee County Civic Center.  The turnout was great with well over 40 people participating in this crime prevention seminar.  The NRA provides us with 20 free course packets whenever we do a class.  We paid for the additional course packets with seized drug funds. 

I do have a story resulting from this seminar that I would like to relate.  A grandmother who attended the class was inspired to discuss with her grandson what to do if someone tried to abduct him.  She had him practice exactly how he was supposed to scream for help.  The grandmother taught him so well that when his mother tried to pull him away from a toy in a store, the child did just what his grandmother had taught him. He did it so well that store employees locked down the store and confronted the mother. 

Groups that would like to host a seminar may contact Corporal Jason Lowe at jlowe@oconeesheriff.org to set it up.  We will be hosting more open enrollment seminars from time to time when there is enough demand for them.

Did you attend the Refuse to Be a Victim seminar? What types of seminars would you like the Sheriff's Office to host? Tell us in the comments.

Drug Searches at County Schools

The Oconee County Schools and your Sheriff’s Office partner in addressing issues at the schools.  One of the issues in which we work together is the issue of drugs in school.  Several times per academic year, we bring in drug sniffing canines to conduct searches of the schools.  We coordinate this with a school system administrator, and no personnel within the schools know when the searches will take place. 

On November 16, we conducted just such a search.  Two canines each from the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office and the Jefferson Police Department assisted in this search along with our own canine.

We searched both Oconee County High School and North Oconee High School.  One sixteen year old was caught with a small quantity of marijuana.  A juvenile complaint was completed, and the student faces punishment by the school system as well. 

Sheila Beckham, Principal of Oconee County High School, sent me the following,

“I would like to thank you and the other officers for conducting the drug dog search at Oconee County High School. Each officer and K9 conducted the search in a professional manner. It is a pleasure to have such a cooperative working relationship with law enforcement. The entire department has always been willing to assist with drug dog searches, reports, security, and other issues. It is especially nice to see our law enforcement personnel conference with our teenagers on the dangers of the world around them. They always take the approach that we are here to help you and everyone makes mistakes - the goal is to learn from your mistakes. Thanks for all you do to help make OCHS a great place to teach and learn.”

On behalf of the Sheriff’s Office, I would like to thank the school system for being such good partners. 

Meet Orion

Last August, our first canine, Spike, answered his last call.  Our current canine is named Orion.  He is a four-year-old Belgian Malinois.  He is trained to protect his handler, detect drugs, and track suspects.  Orion has done a good job for us so far, and we expect that to continue.  His handler is Sergeant Shane Partain.