Annual Department Reports from OC Sheriff’s Office

On Friday, Sheriff Mike Crenshaw presented summaries from each of the five divisions of the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office for 2014. The E-911 Division reported in 2014 that 75,497 calls were received for service. There were 48,129 total in progress calls. Friday and Saturday were tied for the busiest day of the week in terms of in progress calls. The total amount of telephone calls was 252,447, of which there were 38,578 Emergency 911 calls and 213,869 that were non-emergency calls. Oconee County dispatch was also ahead of the national standard based on NENA and NFPA requirements for 911 calls answered within ten and twenty seconds. Dispatchers spent a total of 5,548 hours on the telephone in 2014 and employees had around 2,352 total training hours in 2014. 82% of all 911 calls were from wireless devices. The Special Operations Division of the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office made 319 drug related cases in 2014. The value of drugs seized was over 1.3 million. Methamphetamines accounted for the most prevalent drug for the second year in a row. In total, there were 15 meth labs dismantled during the year. Each drug related case in most instances has more than one defendant and multiple charges per defendant. The warrant team served 1,772 warrants on 1,031 individuals. The courthouse security unit had a total of 123 terms of court, including 20 terms of General Sessions, 42 Family Court weeks, and 25 terms of Common Pleas Court. 60,469 individuals were scanned through the metal detectors coming into the courthouse. 904 defendants were transported from jail to court while 73 trips were made to out of county facilities to transport detained juveniles to and from court. The Aviation Unit had 23 flights that include 12 law enforcement missions, 6 training missions, and 5 community service missions The SWAT team had five activations for high-risk drug warrants and continued training on a monthly basis in order to be prepared in the event of an emergent situation. A specialized interdiction team conducted 756 vehicle stops, which resulted in 36 felony arrests, 91 drug cases, 105 K-9 searches, 10 fugitive arrests, and 739 citations being issued. The Training Unit plays a vital role and conducted or coordinated more than 7,000 hours of training for our agency. This includes mandated in-service classes along with advanced and basic academy classes. The Civil Unit served 3,299 papers in 2014, which included 172 evictions and 11 foreclosures. The K-9 Unit which consists of one German Shepherd, two Dutch Shepherd’s, two Belgian Malinois’s, and a Bloodhound. This unit trained for a combined 1350 hours and assisted with vehicle searches and missing persons. The Road Patrol Division listed 988 individuals arrested in 2014, with around 1,268 charges from those arrests. An additional 199 people were issued courtesy summons but not taken to jail. This division wrote 4,383 incident reports, which is an average of almost 129 reports per officer. The division has seven reserve deputies that volunteer their time during the year to assist with law enforcement activities. The 500+ hours worked in 2014 saved the taxpayers just over $10,000.00 based on the cost per hour for a full-time deputy with benefits. There were 25 uses of force department wide during 2014, 24 of those by the Road Patrol Division. Based on 1,187 arrests or citations being made, patrol deputies had to use force on 2% of those arrested; no officers were injured in 2014 during use of force encounters; minor cuts and abrasions on five (5) suspects, none of which were transported to a medical facility and/ or refused medical treatment. There were zero uses of deadly force in 2014. The Sheriff’s Office initiated 1,979 vehicle stops in 2014 compared to 1371 in 2013. The following is a breakdown of the ethnicity for males and females:
2013 Female – 13 Hispanic, 85 African American, 366 Caucasian, 13 Other
2013 Male – 44 Hispanic, 129 African American, 710 Caucasian, 11 Other
2014 Female – 24 Hispanic, 106 African American, 535 Caucasian, 13 Other
2014 Male – 82 Hispanic, 216 African American, 988 Caucasian, 15 Other
The Criminal Investigation Division reports that there were 1,594 cases in 2014, which includes 202 cases of criminal domestic violence; 1,062 of those cases were cleared and 573 persons were arrested. Statically, Criminal Investigations cleared 67% of their assigned cases. 2,212 cases were assigned to the Victim Services Unit, which includes providing victim services to the cities of Westminster, Walhalla, West Union, and Salem. The Victim Advocates attended court with the victims of crimes 261 times. The Victim Advocates were also assigned to all 202 criminal domestic violence cases with 85 orders of protection issued. The Marine Unit covered around 1900 miles in 2014 along Lake Hartwell, Keowee and Jocassee, with 124 vessel safety checks conducted. The School Resource Officers taught 116 classes involving approximately 2,088 students. The topics covered in those cases were harassment, bullying, texting, unlawful communication, drugs and alcohol. They conducted 355 student conferences and 159 parent conferences with 39 home visits. There were 14 juvenile referrals to DJJ and 43 tickets written. The SRO’s worked 785 hours for activities after the school day ended. The Elementary School Resource Officer taught 25 classes involving approximately 550 students. Topics covered are primarily drugs, safety and bullying. He conducted 21 student/parent conferences with nine home visits. He made approximately 300 classroom visits mentoring and establishing trust with the students. Animal Control took in 3951 animals in 2014, with 1,152 animals adopted and 224 returned to their owners. There were 860 transferred to no kill rescues 1,715 were euthanized. Overall, Animal Control received 2,230 calls for service. There were 117 tickets issued. Statistically, 44% of all animals taken in were euthanized while 56% were saved through adoption, transfer to a rescue, or returned to their owner. Environmental Services received 278 litter complaints, with the total number of litter charges at 58. The Sheriff’s Office participated in the Zero Tolerance for Litter campaign in 2014, which was sponsored by Palmetto Pride. The Sheriff’s Inmate work crew picked up approximately 4000lbs. of litter and 20 tires along the county’s roadways. The Sheriff’s Office adopted a two-mile stretch of Highway 11 and picked up eighty bags of trash using employee volunteers and their family members. Oconee County currently has 166 registered sex offenders. There were seven warrants signed in 2014 regarding sex offender registry violations, with guilty pleas in five of those cases and two cases found guilty. Statistically, the Sheriff’s Office Sex Offender Program has a 96% compliance rate.
Community Services welcomed numerous students for job shadow day, and represented our agency at health, job, and safety fairs. Six church security assessments and one industry assessment was conducted. Neighborhood Crime Watch meetings were held in various communities. The final division is the Oconee County Detention Center where the average daily population for 2014 was around 170, which was a 21.6% increase from 2013, where the average daily population around 140. The most significant increase for inmates was for pre-trial males, around a 40% increase from 2013. Pre-trial female population increased 38%. The total number of bookings (arrestees processed) declined, from 4,138 in 2013 to 3,881 in 2014. The significant increase in average daily population in the pre-trial population combined with the decrease in bookings could indicate one or more of the following possible causes: more pre-trial inmates unable to make bond, possibly due to higher bonds, more serious offenses, or cases of jailed inmates are taking longer to be adjudicated in court. The Detention Center partnered with the Oconee County Public Library who brings the Book-Mobile to the Detention Center once a month. 25 inmates were placed in electronic monitoring in 2014; of which 14 are currently remain on a monitor.