Released by the Oconee County Sheriff's Office.
The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office offers the following report to the citizens of our county concerning crime and law enforcement activities for 2019.
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 Third Annual Great Oconee Clean-Up Initiative was held in April in partnership with Oconee Economic Alliance, The School District of Oconee, Oconee County Solid Waste and Keep Oconee Beautiful Association.
• The Sheriff’s Office continued to take advantage of new technology to protect our citizens. We became the first law enforcement agency in the world to have a warning system for high speed pursuits. Pursuit Alert is available on our website at no cost to our citizens.
• The Sheriff’s Office also introduced new technology in the form of a UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) with infrared heat sensing capability to assist in the search of missing persons and wanted suspects.
• Three Operation Infinity Drug Sweep Round-Ups were conducted during the year.
• The 6th Annual Citizens Police Academy graduated in November.
• The Sheriff’s Office continued its social media presence on Twitter, Instagram, and You Tube. The Sheriff’s Office also introduced the OCSO app in 2019.
• The Sheriff’s Office collected 249 pounds of prescription pills as part of our takeback program. We hosted two separate Pill Take Back Days to help dispose of over the counter medications, vitamins and prescription medication in pill or liquid form.
• The Sheriff’s Office hosted the 5th Annual Retired Law Enforcement Officers Appreciation Luncheon.
• The 5th Annual Boys Leadership Camp graduated in June at the Law Enforcement Center. The students learned about leadership and did numerous team building skills and activities.
• The first girl’s empowerment camp graduated in June. The students learned about character, confidence, and did numerous team building skills and activities.
• The Law Enforcement Center hosted its 2nd Annual “Boo with the Blue at the Sheriff’s Office Drive-Thru”. This event gave children and parents a place to come for Halloween to trick or treat and feel safe while doing it. Again, another way to build relationships with our citizens.
• The Sheriff’s office participated in No Shave November and donated to the United Way of Oconee as well as The Sheriff’s Foundation from the proceeds of the monies collected.
• The Sheriff’s Office promoted litter education with elementary school students by reading a children’s book about litter at various local schools. This was in partnership with Palmetto Pride.
• The Oconee County SC Sheriff’s Foundation which is a 501c3 non-profit provided a new explosives K-9 to our agency. Students participated in a contest to name the new officer. Thor was selected and sworn in as our newest member of the unit.
• Deputy Chris Johnson was awarded the J P Strom award for the highest academic average in his class at the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy.
• The academic school year began with a school resource officer at every public school in our county increasing the safety of the students and staff as well as opportunities to mentor and build relationships with our youth.
• The Sheriff’s Office in partnership with the Walhalla Police Department hosted Coffee with a Cop at Gather 205 in Walhalla to build relationships with our citizens.
• The Sheriff’s Office in partnership with the school district along with Palmetto Pride sponsored the first “litter bowl” in which high school students competed in picking up trash in and around their schools.
• The Sheriff’s Office requested William Henry Talley’s name be added to The National Law Enforcement Officer’s Memorial in Washington D.C. Talley was killed in the line of duty in 1928.
Emergency Communications/E-911 Division 2019
In 2019, 92,769 calls for service were processed.
The total amount of telephone calls was 174,435 of which there were 40,529 Emergency 911 calls and 133,906 which were non-emergency calls. Our 911 center receives calls for fire/rescue, EMS, four local police departments, and the Sheriff’s Office. Oconee County dispatch continues to exceed the requirements of the national standards based on NENA and NFPA requirements for 911 calls answered within ten and twenty seconds. Dispatchers spent a total of 5,718 hours on the telephone in 2019 and employees had around 1,311 total training hours during the year. 86.6% of all 911 calls were from wireless devices.
Special Operations Division 2019
The Sheriff’s Office narcotics unit made 267 drug related cases in 2019. The value of drugs seized equaled $933,631. The Uniformed Patrol Division made an additional 123 drug cases and seized $46,682.00 in street value of drugs. Methamphetamines accounted for the most prevalent drug for the seventh year in a row. 24 of the cases made in 2019 were related to heroin while 16 of the cases were related to prescription medication. There were 2 meth labs dismantled during the year.
The warrant unit served 1,495 warrants on 770 individuals. The courthouse unit provided security for judicial proceedings in courts that included 61 days of General Sessions, 181 days of Family Court, 31 days of Common Pleas Court, 23 days of Preliminary Hearings, 23 days of DSS/Court Rule proceedings, and 12 days of Grand Jury proceedings. The Family Court deputy served 527 papers. 53,868 individuals were scanned through the metal detectors coming into the courthouse. 1,036 defendants were transported from jail to court while 89 trips were made to out of county facilities to transport detained juveniles to and from court.
The Marine Unit conducted 140 vessel safety checks and make contact with 967 individuals on or along the lakes. This unit worked 17 special events on the lakes in our county. They made 18 alcohol related cases and issued 24 citations.
The SWAT team had 27 activations that included high risk drug warrants and assisting other agencies. Training continued on a monthly basis that collectively amounted to more than 2,400 hours in order to be prepared in the event of an emergent situation.
A specialized proactive enforcement team conducted 1,236 vehicle stops which resulted in 609 citations, 201 drug cases and 21 fugitive arrests.
The Aviation Unit had 21 flights with the helicopter which included 5 law enforcement missions, 12 training missions, and 4 community service missions. The Unmanned Aerial System aka Drone had 13 missions for the year.
Environmental Services received 521 litter complaints. The Unit made 54 charges for litter violations. The Sheriff’s Inmate work crew picked up 26,919 lbs. of litter along the county’s roadways.
The LEAD (Leadership, Education and Development) Unit plays a vital role and conducted or coordinated 15,895 hours of training for our agency. This includes mandated in-service classes along with advanced and basic academy classes.
The Civil Unit served 3,047 papers in 2019 which included 202 evictions and or foreclosures.
The K-9 Unit consists of two Dutch Shepherds, a Belgian Malinois and a Labrador Retriever. This unit trained for a combined 606 hours and assisted with vehicle searches, explosive searches, and missing persons. This unit conducted 43 vehicle searches.
The Community Services Unit provided 27 presentations to 1,061 attendees.
Uniform Patrol Division 2019
There were 1,149 individuals arrested by the uniform patrol division.
This division wrote a total of 4,874 reports, which is an average of 148 reports per officer.
The division has five reserve deputies that are mandated to volunteer 20 hours each per month during the year to assist with law enforcement activities. They worked 1,080 hours during the year saves the taxpayers $17,431 based on the cost per hour for a full-time deputy.
There were 11 uses of force department wide during 2019. Based on 1,149 arrests being made, patrol deputies had to use force on less than 1% of those arrested; two officers received minor scrapes and bruises during these encounters, while one deputy suffered a significant shoulder injury and is still currently out of work; minor cuts and abrasions on three suspects, none of which required further medical treatment. There were zero uses of deadly force in 2019.
The Sheriff’s Office initiated 3,661 vehicle stops in 2019 compared to 2,283 in 2018 and 2,207 in 2017. The following is a breakdown of the ethnicity for males and females over the past five years:
2015 – Female – 21 Hispanic, 59 African American, 465 Caucasian, 4 Other
Male – 67 Hispanic, 146 African American, 971 Caucasian, 16 Other
2016 – Female – 21 Hispanic, 24 African American, 337 Caucasian, 12 Other
Male – 67 Hispanic, 70 African American, 781 Caucasian, 32 Other
2017 – Female – 20 Hispanic, 100 African American, 566 Caucasian, 8 Other
Male – 45 Hispanic, 172 African American, 1,178 Caucasian, 17 Other
2018 – Female – 20 Hispanic, 62 African American, 549 Caucasian, 37 Other
Male – 71 Hispanic, 151 African American, 1,229 Caucasian, 58 Other
2019 – Female – 33 Hispanic, 126 African American, 1,056 Caucasian, 3 Other
Male – 116 Hispanic, 265 African American, 2,056 Caucasian, 8 Other
The uniform patrol division was involved in 18 vehicle pursuits in 2019 compared to 23 in 2018. None of the pursuits resulted in a collision. Based on 3,661 vehicles pulled over, 0.49% resulted in the driver refusing to stop.
Community Services/Criminal Investigation Division 2019
Criminal Investigations was assigned 1,356 cases in 2019. 612 of those cases have been cleared at this point. Investigators signed 667 warrants on 221 defendants while executing 94 search warrants. The forensic evidence unit processed 189 crime scenes while taking in 1,140 items for evidence.
2,086 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 254 times. The Victim Advocates assisted victims with 57 orders of protection being issued. 8 victims of domestic violence were transported to Safe Harbor during the year.
The School Resource Officers assisted with traffic control, security checks, and classroom visits. 168 classes were taught on topics including sexting, bullying, drug prevention, and making good decisions. They conducted 1,307 student conferences and 480 parent conferences with 380 home visits. There were 9 juvenile referrals to DJJ and 42 citations written. 40 of these citations were for tobacco or vaping. The SRO’s collectively worked 361 school and sporting events.
Animal Control took in 4,109 animals in 2019, with 1,573 animals adopted. There were 612 transferred to no kill rescues, 335 animals returned to their owner, and 1,502 were euthanized. Our shelter took in 1,854 dogs and 2,235 cats. Overall, Animal Control received 2,559 calls for service. There were 82 citations issued and 126 warning tickets. Statistically, 36% of all animals taken in were euthanized while 62% were saved through adoption, transfer to a rescue, or returned to their owner.
Oconee County currently has 192 registered sex offenders. There was 1 warrant signed in 2019 regarding sex offender registry violations. The deputy assigned to this unit verified addresses and conducted registrations for all offenders living in Oconee County.
Oconee County Detention Center 2019
The average daily population at the Detention Center for 2019 was 190 compared to 2018 where the average daily population 157.
The total number of bookings (arrestees processed) increased from 3,171 in 2018 to 3,448 in 2019.
The Detention Center averaged 153 males per day along with 37 females based on the average daily population.
There was an average of 162 pre-trial inmates per day compared to 25 sentenced inmates per day based on the average daily population.
SUMMARY
The Sheriff’s Office continues to promote community oriented policing principles of establishing relationships with our citizens and building partnerships to make our county a safer place. We strive to maintain a spirit of transparency. We continue to work hard to earn the trust of the public we serve.