Sheriff Crenshaw releases 2014 Summary for OC

The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office offers the following report to the citizens of our county concerning crime and law enforcement activities for 2014. Sheriff Crenshaw includes the following accomplishments that were realized by the dedicated men and women at the Sheriff’s Office working in partnership with the citizens of Oconee County and other law enforcement agencies. The inaugural class of the first Sheriff’s Office Citizens Police Academy. 23 graduated from the 10-week class in November of 2014. The Sheriff’s Office partnership with Safe Harbor allowed prevention and intervention to begin in our schools along with opening the first domestic violence shelter in Oconee County. A continued emphasis on drug enforcement with four major drug round-ups bringing the total to eight in the last two years. The hiring of a part-time investigator to work the unsolved homicide and missing person cases, some of which date back many years. The creation of elementary school drug prevention and mentoring program. The first elementary school resource officer began working throughout the county. The continuation of community involvement by starting the “Coffee with a Cop” program where citizens can interact with local law enforcement. Continued transparency with the purchase of 25 AXON Body Cameras. This brings our total to 35 deputies, which includes the entire uniform patrol division. Groundbreaking for our Detention Facility, which is slated to open in mid-2015. Partnership with the U.S. Marshals Service to conduct registered sex offender address verification. The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office and Oconee County were recognized at a meeting in February of 2014 by the South Carolina Association of Counties for a 2013 Outstanding Safety Achievement for the program in which every certified received a tourniquet kit. Continued partnership with local agencies, which included an interdiction operation with the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff’s Office continued to partner with the local municipal police departments in Oconee County in enforcement activities, such as drug sweeps. The Sheriff’s Office employees adopted a section of Highway 11 as part of the Palmetto Pride Highway Adoption program. The Sheriff’s Office became the first agency in the state to use Mobile Watch, which is an app associated with sex offender registry compliance. The Sheriff’s Office created a Speaker’s Bureau where deputies are available to speak to various citizens’ groups concerning the many aspects of the Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff’s Office received two grants, totaling $1,500, from the Mayberry Comes to Westminster event and from State Farm insurance for elementary school drug prevention efforts. Crime Stoppers of Oconee County, Inc. received 184 tips in 2014 with 24 of those tips resulting in arrests. $1,750 in tips was paid out in 2014. The Sheriff’s Public Information Office continues to keep our citizens informed by issuing 313 press releases for the year. The Sheriff’s Office Facebook and Twitter pages continue to grow, with over 4.400 individuals liking our Facebook page and over 400 individuals following us on Twitter. The Sheriff’s Office provided inmate labor to help in remodeling and restoring the City of Walhalla’s public swimming pool. According to Sheriff’s Office records, the following are some of the violent and property crimes reported in 2014. There were three homicides, 66 death investigations, seven robberies, 62 aggravated assaults, six arsons, 479 burglaries, 352 cases of shoplifting, 763 cases of other larcenies, 47 cases of motor vehicle theft, 35 cases of forgeries, 178 cases of credit card or ATM fraud, 200 cases of vandalism, 39 sexual assaults, 202 reported criminal domestic violence cases, 33 child abuse sexual cases, 16 child abuse physical cases and 46 child abuse neglect cases.