Monthly Report for December 2023
Dear Citizens,
As 2023 has come to an end and a new year begins, I, my family and all of us here at the Navarro County Sheriff's Office, would like to take this opportunity to extend our best wishes for a safe and prosperous New Year. We look forward to helping make 2024 a wonderful and safe year for all those in our community. Please be assured as your Sheriff, my commitment to the citizens remains strong and I will continue to work with you to improve the quality of life for the current and future residents of Navarro County.
It is my hope that 2024 will be a year when those in our community will continue to extend a helping hand to their neighbors, coworkers, family, friends and strangers in need. It's an honor and a pleasure to say "thank you" to all those that have continued to truly support me and the men and women of the NCSO as we continue to strive in making our county a safer place to live and raise our families. We appreciate you all and wish you a full year of blessings, happiness, health and success. Please contact my office if I, or any of my staff, can ever be of any assistance. Again, may you have a safe, healthy happy and blessed New Year.
I always appreciate our officers who have to work through the Christmas and New Year's holiday ensuring the continued and uninterrupted operations of the correctional facility, communications and enforcement divisions. Thank you for being there.
We had a great time participating in the Corsicana Christmas parade and it was sure good to see such a big turnout and the amount of people who came with their family and friends to watch. Kudos to all those who worked hard on their floats and to all who participated. Good job to all who organized, worked or took part in this tradition and event.
As always, it was great to go back to my home town of Dawson and take part in the Christmas parade and the Dawg Days of Dawson's Christmas in the Park event. The little ones always like getting to sit in and look at the NCSO Lenco Bearcat and my deputies and I really enjoyed getting to meet and speak to many new folks and visit with several old friends.
Once again Santa's helpers from the Navarro County Sheriff's Office delivered approximately 250 gift packages to the inmates at the Justice Center for Christmas. The gift packages were prepared and delivered to the NCSO after being donated by Veldman Land and Cattle. With my approval, Detention Officers of the NCSO delivered the gift packages to every inmate within the facility so that they could experience the true meaning of Christmas.
I'd like to say thank you to the many citizens, businesses and companies who delivered or sent the much enjoyed and appreciated food, snacks and deserts to us over the Christmas holiday. As with many times before, your kindness and generosity is always very much appreciated by all of us here at the NCSO.
We were more than happy that Leadership Corsicana stopped by the NCSO. We enjoyed them giving us an opportunity to speak on the many areas of our law enforcement profession and that they were able to take a brief tour and see some of the inner workings and a little of the behind the scenes.
As we continue to evolve into advanced technology at the NCSO, we are currently transitioning into a newer and much more highly advanced body camera recording system for our agency. The new system by Utility offers many advantages and technological advances from our current system.
We are also adding Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) to ten of our patrol units. The ALPR system is beneficial to law enforcement as it acts as a tool that actively looks for stolen vehicles, vehicles associated with outstanding warrants, or law enforcement alerts affiliated to a vehicle license plate.
It was also added as part of the transition for our enforcement officers, that they will now be seen wearing outer carriers for their bullet proof vests. This uniform transition has many advantages including comfort which is always welcomed during the hot Texas summer months with the amount of equipment that always has to be worn. These changes we have been diligently and steadily working on will no doubt have a positive impact on our enforcement operations in the future.
December 27th was another prime example of teamwork and multiple agencies working together.
On that afternoon, NCSO Patrol Corporal Palos spotted a wanted fugitive operating a motor vehicle near Corsicana Crossings. The suspect was known to have multiple felony warrants along with a history of fleeing from law enforcement.
CID Sergeant Thurston responded to the area to assist and was able to visually confirm that the wanted suspect was operating the vehicle. Corporal Palos initiated his emergency lights on his marked patrol vehicle and the suspect fled in his vehicle northbound on I-45 until he eventually wrecked the vehicle at the 243 milepost and fled into a wooded area east of the accident scene.
Navarro County Deputy Constable Minze observed the suspect running northeast through the field as other units converged on the area. I along with other officers from Navarro County Sheriff's Office, Navarro County Constables, Rice PD, Corsicana Police Department, Texas DPS, Ellis County Sheriff's Office and other Ellis County law enforcement, responded into the area to assist.
Texas Department of Criminal Justice tracking dogs were also alerted and placed on standby.
After an approximate 45-minute intensive ground search of the area, Sgt Thurston observed the suspect hiding in a creek in waste deep water where he was then taken into custody without further incident. The suspect had eight outstanding warrants from both Navarro and Ellis counties for weapon violations, burglary and narcotics offenses.
The suspect also earned an additional on view charge of felony evading arrest. Again I'd like to say I appreciate the relationship we have with these agencies and their officers who responded without hesitation in assisting with this dangerous fugitive apprehension.
It's not an everyday occurrence that we encounter a feel good moment in law enforcement but December 28th, was definitely a feel good day.
The NCSO responded to a missing five-year-old special needs child who had been missing approximately 30 minutes from a rural home on NW 1200 near Barry. The child was reported to have not been wearing shoes, socks and was without a jacket.
Numerous NCSO units responded into the area to establish a perimeter for search operations. We had drones from the NCSO and the Navarro County Emergency Management Coordinator on scene and scent specific tracking dogs from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Beto Unit were enroute.
I was more than happy and pleased to report that after missing for approximately two hours the child was located unharmed at an abandoned residence on NW 1200 by Deputy Rose Clark. As always I am proud of all officers involved and especially that I am able to report a successful outcome. Again, it was a good day.
Congratulations to Deputy Joshua Thornburg who has transferred from our patrol division to courthouse security. We wish Deputy Thornburg the best of luck with his new position and look forward to him continuing to serve the citizens of Navarro County in his new role.
The Sheriff's Office had approximately 2,714 calls for service in December and our dispatch received 1,415 calls for assistance to 9-1-1. There were approximately 172 persons arrested and booked into the Navarro County Justice Center and the average daily jail population was 223 inmates.
Nineteen inmates were transferred to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and four inmates were transferred to State Jail and SAFP Units to serve their sentences. In December, we estrayed two cows and one donkey and all were hauled to our county farms. One estrayed cow and calf were sold at Corsicana Livestock Auction for $2,264.00 as well as $435 in estray fees was collected from owners who reclaimed their estray livestock.
We are accepting applications for all divisions and currently have vacancies in detention, dispatch, patrol, and courthouse security. Remember the hiring age for dispatch and detention has been lowered to 18 but with all other enforcement positions, you must be 21 or older to apply. As in the past, applications will continue to be taken for any vacancy until the position is filled.
"Walking in integrity will keep you in good company. You'll never find people of dishonesty and low character on the high road." -Author unknown
As always, God Bless and be safe.
Sheriff Elmer Tanner
