In less than two years with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, Deputy Jonathan Schlager has already made a tremendous impact on the agency’s busiest district, the Central District which covers the Shalimar, Fort Walton Beach, and Mary Esther areas. Today Deputy Schlager was named the Okaloosa County Deputy of the Year for 2013. He began his law enforcement career in the U.S. Air Force and has continued to serve as a Reservist since 2009, presently assigned at Hurlburt Field.
Since coming on board the OCSO in March 2012, Deputy Schlager has demonstrated an outstanding work rate. Last year he responded to 1,698 calls for service, generated 187 offense reports, and made approximately ninety arrests. He was also selected as a shift Field Trainer and logged nearly 340 hours field training newly hired deputies.
Deputy Schlager began working a string of warehouse burglaries in the area in August 2013. He not only identified a suspect and located multiple victims who were unaware their storage units had been burglarized, but obtained an arrest warrant for the suspect and helped the Criminal Investigations Division recover more than $35,000 in stolen goods that could then be returned to the rightful owners.
Supervisors say Deputy Schlager leads by example and demonstrates a “can do” attitude that inspires his co-workers. They cite his energy, focus, good judgment, professionalism, and unrelenting pursuit of justice. He is also a current member of Freemason Lodge 172, and volunteers time to the Lodge’s fund raising efforts for various charities.
