By: Sheriff Tom Kochert
The Williams County Sheriff’s Office has seen an increase in activity for the past year, especially in narcotics related cases.
Activity has also been steady in the child abuse and neglect category, with the detective assigned, JFS is keeping very busy.
Traffic enforcement has been stepped up, due to full staffing and a renewed effort towards OVI and drug interdiction stops.
Recently, our officers received training from the OSP, as well as stops, approaches, search and seizure, and vehicle searches to further this agenda of traffic interdiction for the county.
Part of my goals for this term as sheriff is to substantially curtail drunk driving, and drug related traffic issues. Aggressive patrol, aggressive interdiction, and prosecution of OVI and drug related offenses are one of my top priorities for 2024.
The numbers have increased in the above-listed areas, especially OVI and drug related offenses. Societal changes, economics, and a general drift away from traditional values have contributed to the breakdown of families, decreased attendances at our churches, and a general feeling of anxiety within the general public.
Recent world events are contributing to a feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop, while very little good news is being offered from our governmental authorities.
Mental health issues, and the treatment for them, are the ever-present problem we now encounter very frequently. This scenario presents unique challenges for us in the law enforcement world.
Much different than the society that existed when I began my career. Many new and perplexing challenges for training, retention, mental health awareness, and criminal technological advancements to be concerned with. Narcotics, and the specter of drug addiction and treatment now consume a huge portion of our operational planning.
This office has overcome one of the largest operational difficulties facing law enforcement today; that is, recruitment and retention.
I am currently at one of the highest, if not the highest, staffing levels in the agency’s history. As a bonus, three of my new hires this past year have been US veterans, two Marines, one Army.
I have been blessed with multiple applicants for each position I have offered and was able to choose the “cream of the crop’ when hiring.
This trend is continuing, as even though I currently do not have openings, I am still getting applicants! I believe this is due to the atmosphere in the agency, the amount and quality of training I am offering, the new equipment, and above all the quality of my command staff.
I have strived to get the best sergeants and command staff to lead the agency I can find. Deputies are now able to expect a variety of potential openings and career paths in the coming years. These include Detective, MAN unit operator, JFS Detective, K-9 officer, SRT team operator, and dive team operator.
With road patrol opening to a full complement of officers, we can now deploy many different law enforcement capabilities in the county. Capabilities that have not existed for a while, if ever.
We continue to explore new areas of enforcement, new training progressions, and better command staff training and career development opportunities.
Supervisors now are tasked with completing the S.T.E.P. program once becoming a sergeant, and this is showing its benefits in many ways.
Supervisor liability, command decisions, benefits of accountability, report writing, and above all servant leadership qualities are now the expected norm, not a rogue idea.
We have expanded into many areas this past year, with a special response team formation for special tactical response situations.
These include hostage/negotiating, active shooter, fugitive recovery, armed standoff encounters, and the like. We have also added a 10-member dive team, fully funded with training and certification as well as equipment costs.
Both of these assets were of no cost to the county taxpayers, as grants and donations were used to implement them. We have also expanded our road patrol to a point where we are now implementing cross training with agencies like OSP, running interdiction and OVI projects, and traffic law enforcement projects.
We value citizen input and seek to make our deputies a common sight in even the remote areas of the county, day or night!
We have initiated several community outreaches this past year, with the largest being the Park with the Police program. This event has become very large, with a growing attendance every year.
We have several outside agencies assist us with this, and it has become a landmark event in the County each June. It is a great opportunity for kids of all ages to interact with our officers throughout the county and have fun in the process!
We have also held several events at local libraries, underscoring scams, internet safety and awareness. I always try to assist our Department of Aging with its activities as well through the rainbow of wellness events and senior center outreaches.
We are very proactive in our services to the community and welcome any new ideas or events to promulgate these activities as we go along.
Our agency is responsible for all of the unincorporated areas of Williams County. This sets us apart because we encounter all of the “urban” type crimes, as well as the rural oriented types like thefts from rural homes and farms.
We also patrol countless miles of county roads, and our constituency is both the village residents, and the rural folks. This diversity of enforcement and cultures we encounter makes us unique in the county.
As the sheriff, we also have the security of the county courthouse as our first mandate. Additionally, we have resources not common to smaller agencies, like detectives, child abuse and neglect officers, and narcotics specialists.
Our officers are going to train for “out of the box” capabilities, like farm machinery familiarization, map and compass orienteering, open scene crime scene processing (shootings, hunting incidents, etc.) and for natural disasters such as ice storms, blizzards, wind events, or tornadoes.
I am preparing an old truck we have in inventory to be used as a “storm truck”, to assist with clearing roads in the event of a severe storm and help emergency crews reach rural residents in a blizzard or snow emergency.
I believe the Williams County Sheriff’s Office is perceived very well in the county, and is gaining a reputation of viable, well trained, well-disciplined officers that deploy their talents in a professional and courteous manner.
We strive to solve crimes that are reported, to deter criminal activity through aggressive traffic and drug law enforcement, and to maintain a very high level of convictions with our submitted cases through a process of report writing, evidentiary collection techniques, and timely, accurate case completion rates.
This will ensure a reasonable modicum of deterrence to future crime and maintain a standard of expected excellence in service.
I could list so many stories of actions my deputies take every day that is above and beyond expectations. It is very satisfying to routinely get calls from the public, not complaining, but commending my officers for everything from maximum efforts at cardiac episodes, to assisting motorists, to amazing response times to serious incidents, and especially, life saves.
My deputies are very highly motivated, very well trained, and eager to assist with anything that comes along! We recently had a deputy intervene with CPR on a 9-year-old child.
That action most likely saved the child’s life, and this was the second time that deputy had been able to perform CPR successfully while on duty!
Many others have assisted with stranded motorists, house fires, lost children, etc. They are truly a force that the county can be proud of!
In closing, I am proud of the agency, proud of the deputies, and proud of their receptiveness to my administration. I strive to serve the public in the most effective way possible.
I plan on doing that by training up a force that holds words like duty, honor, courage, and integrity in the highest regard.
We do not tolerate unprofessional or ill-perceived actions; we do not tolerate half effort in our duties. We expect honest, professional, accountable service every time the public calls, period.
This is the greatest county in Ohio, bar none! It’s our job to set the example, to provide a measure of safety and security to insure the prosperity of the citizens.
It’s a job we do and love and will continue to do with God’s blessings. We hope the citizens of the county will join us in making this county the state’s shining example!
