Text Box: Non sworn employee Kathy Wilson Kathy has been with the Sheriff’s Office since January 1997 and is currently working in our Crime Intelligence Unit. She is a key player in the investigations section, providing research information and analysis of raw data to numerous investigations. Text Box: OKALOOSA COUNTY LOSS PREVENTION COALITION Text Box: Text Box: Please contact Community Relations Coordinator Ashley Barrineau at 850-651-7153 or abarrineau@sheriff-okaloosa.org if you have any questions or concerns. www.sheriff-okaloosa.org Click on the above images for more information

A Message from your Sheriff

Charlie Morris

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am very pleased to know that the public is more aware of their surroundings since 9/11 by the influx of calls to our Communication   Center to report suspicious activity. Community members are the eyes and ears of law enforcement because you instinctively know what is not normal in your neighborhood.  Intuition is our best  defense mechanism and it is important to stay strong in our resolve. 

Sincerely,

 

EMPLOYEE ‘S OF THE 1st QUARTER
Text Box: Investigator’s Fraud Prevention Advice 1) Write “See Identification” on back of credit cards. 2) Don’t provide personal information to Internet users. 3) Shred personal documents as opposed to throwing away. Text Box: The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Crime Prevention Unit is teaming up with businesses throughout the county to put a stop to shoplifting and financial crimes. The Okaloosa County Loss Prevention Coalition is an organization made up of local merchants and business owners. The coalition will meet monthly to share information on financial crime trends, who is shoplifting locally, how to overcome liability issues and additional safety protection tactics. Kathleen Larney, the Crime Prevention Specialist for the Sheriff’s Office, will facilitate the meetings and organize the guest speakers on prevention training. Prevention Training will include topics such as ABC’s of shoplifting, counterfeit checks and money orders, fraudulent credit cards, fake ID’s and other topics of interest. The Sheriff’s Office is working with volunteer Lisa Holmes to create a web site for the coalition. When an incident involving financial crimes is detected, members will be able to post information about the crime on the interactive web site. The Loss Prevention site will be managed by the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, which will review entries and edit them as needed. Coalition members will have private access to the web site so this information is only shared with the coalition members. The next Loss Prevention Coalition meeting will be held at the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office on 2nd Street in Shalimar on July the 28th at 10:00a.m. Leading businesses throughout the county are welcome to send Loss Prevention officers to join the Coalition on this joint County effort against crime.

Deputy Sheriff  Jon Bush

On April 7th, Deputy Bush was patrolling the beach when he spotted a distressed swimmer. Deputy Bush immediately radioed for assistance, donned his safety gear and entered the water.  After fighting the rip current for nearly an hour, the swimmer and rescuers were able to reach the shore safely. If not for Deputy Bush the swimmer would have perished.  Deputy Bush was also presented a Life Saving Pin.