Monthly Report for October 2018

Dear Citizens,

Last month we remembered the events of 9/11. Thank you to the City of Corsicana and The Freedom Flag Committee for continuing to honor and remember all those lives that were lost on that tragic day by putting on the Annual Patriot Day Program at the Freedom Flag Plaza. I'd also like to say a heartfelt thank you to the men and women of The NCSO Honor and Color Guard units for doing such an outstanding job at this years program. You not only represented me and the NCSO with honor and respect, but our community as well.

Our NCSO Deputies have been gladly and proudly participating in “High Five Friday” at various Corsicana campuses this month. The Deputies are shaking hands and giving high fives to the kids as they enter school and begin their days. We feel this is a positive way for our officers.to interact with our youth who are the future leaders of tomorrow.

The Texas Association of Hostage Negotiators conducted a week long Basic Negotiations course led by Lt. Melanie Cagle in Rockwall last month. I along with Sergeant Caleb Loftis assisted with the class in which 17 students from various law enforcement agencies throughout Texas participated. The final day of training was a scenario based training day which offers hands on experience with various tools for negotiations. The Rockwall County Sheriff’s Office assisted with the training location as well as with personnel to assist with scenarios and Greenville PD assisted with an instructor, equipment and additional officers to assist with scenario training. As the VP of Region One of the Texas Association of Hostage Negotiators, Lt. Cagle is responsible for conducting various training courses throughout the region. We were proud to assist her with this task.

The NCSO and SPCA of Texas worked together to remove 68 dogs from a location in the 7100 Block of South I45 Angus. The elderly owner had definitely become overwhelmed and therefore voluntarily surrendered the animals so they could receive the proper care they needed. The NCSO responds to numerous loose livestock calls on a daily basis but a loose horse on FM 709 & FM 2555 Retreat turned out to be a lot more than just a routine call for Corporal Keith Lewis and Deputy Matt Swindall. The deputies, along with civilian assistance, worked diligently to try and keep the animal off the roadway thus keeping the public safe as they attempted to locate the owner so they could come to retrieve their animal. The horse ultimately ran behind an unfenced residence on Hamilton Lane in Retreat and as Corporal Lewis walked behind the house to attempt to capture the horse, he observed marijuana plants growing in plain view behind the residence. The horse was ultimately captured and returned to its owner and the marijuana was seized with “its” owner being arrested for POM under 2 ounces. During the investigation, additional narcotics paraphernalia was also seized.

NCSO Detectives solved a burglary and recovered the stolen property before the burglary was even reported to law enforcement. Detective Sergeants Robbie Jock and Brandon Bates solved the burglary of the Mildred Baptist Church and ultimately solved the unreported burglary of the fireworks stand located at the corner of South 15th Street and FM 709 Corsicana. Evidence from the church burglary was recovered by the detectives and additional stolen property from the burglary totaling approximately $2,700 was located outside Navarro County. The detectives arrested three suspects and charged them with engaging in organized criminal activity. Two of the suspects were also charged with burglary of a building. The detectives recovered approximately $2,500 worth of stolen fireworks from the fireworks stand burglary in Corsicana. I am very proud of these detectives and their hard work. Job well done gentleman.

During the course of a traffic stop for an observed traffic violation near the intersection of the I-45 West Service Road and Business 45 in Corsicana, approximately five grams of methamphetamine, numerous fake identification cards, numerous articles of paperwork with personal identifying information, numerous credit cards in several different persons names, numerous receipts with credit card payments under different names and electronic equipment were seized. The two occupants were arrested at the scene by NCSO Sergeants Rickey Ragan and Brandon Bates. The suspects were believed to be from the Houston area but were coming from Dallas. One suspect gave deputies a fictitious name and date of birth but he was later correctly identified and found to have a felony theft warrant out of Harris County. The second suspect was found to be concealing narcotics on his person during the booking process after arrival to the jail. One suspect was charged with Manufacture/Deliver of controlled substance penalty group 1 >1g < 4g and prohibited substance in correctional facility. The second subject was charged with Manufacture/Deliver of controlled substance penalty group 1 >1g < 4g, fail to identify as a fugitive, giving false information, and a Harris County felony warrant for theft $2,500-$30,000. We are furthering this investigation by attempting to make contact with possible victims of suspected identity theft and fraud.

The Navarro County Sheriff's Office, Corsicana Police Department, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers participated in serving federal arrest warrants in Corsicana. The agencies had participated in a multi-jurisdictional narcotics investigation over the past several months that involved multiple narcotics distributors in Corsicana. The Navarro County Sheriff's Office SWAT team, Narcotics Unit, Criminal Investigation Division and Patrol division all participated in the operation. We are proud to be a part of this multi-jurisdictional team effort to combat the flow and sales of illicit drugs in Corsicana and Navarro County.

We would like to thank our local VFW Post 3366 and Auxiliary, Woodman Life Insurance, Navarro College Computer Science Club, Trisun Care Center, Heritage Oaks Retirement Village, Heritage Oaks West, Guardian Healthcare and Hand in Hand Hospice for the various baked goods, Gatorade and breakfasts that was brought for our officers and staff during the month. We appreciate your thoughtfulness and kind gestures.

The Corsicana Kiwanis Cub honored several local first responders during their annual luncheon banquet. Congratulations to our own Lieutenant Clint Andrews for receiving 2018 Corsicana Kiwanis Club Officer of the Year, and to Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Curtis Putz and Corsicana Fire and Rescues James Glasgow on receiving their awards as well.

The Sheriff's Office had approximately 3,276 calls for service in September and our Dispatch received 1,970 calls for assistance to 9-1-1. There were approximately 280 persons arrested and booked into the Navarro County Justice Center and the average daily jail population was 251 inmates. The Narcotics Unit arrested twelve suspects, filed thirteen criminal cases and served nine outstanding arrest warrants. Twenty nine inmates were transferred to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and sixteen other inmates were transferred to State Jail and SAFP Units to serve their sentences. This month we estrayed one horse and four donkeys and transported them to our county farm at Petty’s Chapel.

Congratulations to Deputy Kevin Jernigan who was promoted to Corporal in Detention on September 16th. We wish Corporal Jernigan all the best with his new position. We had one resignation this month and we are currently accepting applications for vacancies in the detention division. As in the past, applications will continue to be taken for any vacancy until the position is filled.

"Some people find fault like there is a reward for it." - Zig Ziglar

As always, God bless and be safe,

Sheriff Elmer Tanner