INITIATIVES
Three New Programs Under the Direction of the Sarpy County Safety Board
Sheriff Jeff Davis, Chairperson of the Sarpy County Safety Program, has announced three new programs under the direction of the Sarpy County Safety Board of Directors.
First, the State of Nebraska has approved the Sarpy County Safety Program to operate a Motorcycle Safety Training Course. This course teaches basic motorcycle rider safety. The Motorcycle Safety Foundation has sanctioned the safety course and it meets the requirements outlined by the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles when applying for a license to operate a motorcycle. Further information regarding the motorcycle training is available on the Sarpy County Safety Program web page.
Second, a License Re-Instatement Class is being offered which provides an 8-hour class. This class satisfies the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles requirement for License Re-instatement.
The third class is the Point Back Program, which is also an 8-hour class. Upon satisfactory completion, 2 points can be re-instated to a person's drivers license.
The License Re-Instatment and Point Back classes are located at the Bellevue Public Schools Support Center, which is located at 2820 Arboretum Drive, Bellevue, Nebraska.
More information on these programs can be obtained by calling the Sarpy County Safety Program at 402-827-9827.
Dec. 2008
Crime Statistics Now Available on the Web
Crime statistics for the Sarpy County Sheriff's Department are published to the internet and anyone can access the information by going to CrimeReports.com. Information can be retrieved by date, crime types, distance and date range. An exact address can be typed in to see the activity that is occurring within that area. Analytics will display graphs for the crime data. Additionally, persons can sign up for alerts by Joining CrimeReports and receive emails based on the information that is selected.
Other agencies in the Omaha / Lincoln area that also publish information are Omaha Police Department, Lincoln Police Department, Bellevue Police Department and Papillion Police Departments. To view crime data for these agencies, go to the CrimeReports.com web site. On the U.S. map, click on Nebraska and then select the agency.
Dec. 2008
Sources of Under-Aged Drinking Targeted by Sarpy County T.R.A.C.E.
In December, 2006, two teen-aged motor vehicle fatalities occurred from a crash that involved under-aged drinking. During that same year, Sarpy County experienced 12 motor vehicle fatalities, several which involved under-aged drinking and alcohol. We identified that a problem existed with teen-aged drinking and its correlation to serious motor vehicle accidents. Sheriff Davis proceeded to try to find a method to address under-aged drinking.
Sheriff Davis organized a meeting to invite judges, probation, parole, health and human services, law enforcement, mayors, school administrators, county commissioners, prosecutors, MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), PRIDE-Omaha (Parent Resources and Information on Drug Education), psychologists and concerned citizens. Tough questions were addressed regarding the sentencing of minors in possession and the prosecution of adults who had provided alcohol to minors. A valuable exchange of information occurred as a result of the meeting.
The T.R.A.C.E. Program (Target Responsibility for Alcohol Connected Emergencies) was started in California to track serious motor vehicle events that involved under-aged drinking. The program pursues who provides the alcohol and where it was obtained. 
Sarpy County had already been tracking information when alcohol-related motor vehicle deaths occurred. But we asked ourselves why we weren’t doing this on every minor in possession arrest, rather than just serious motor vehicle accidents. And we wondered why law enforcement officers weren’t doing more to track down the sources providing the alcohol to minors. The answer was that trying to do a follow up to find the providers of alcohol can be extremely time consuming. In most cases, juveniles cover for their sources. They either state they don’t know how they got it, or “some person got it for us”. Most officers indicated that there were calls waiting for them and they were not afforded the proper time to track down the source of the alcohol.
The Sarpy County Sheriff’s Department decided to place an investigator on every under-aged drinking arrest to interview the juvenile arrestees, parents and other participants. The problem was, this effort resulted in additional overtime needed to allocate personnel, which adversely affected the budget. The solution was to try to obtain funding through a grant.
A pilot program was initiated in January 2007 to test the success of instituting an investigative follow up for every under-aged drinking offense. Within a 6-week period, 12 cases involving under-aged drinking were followed up by investigators. The results were 30 arrests for minor in possession and 7 adult arrests, 5 for contributing and 2 for procuring.
Based upon the results of the pilot program, a grant was submitted and funding was received for $20,000. Since the time the pilot program was initiated, the Sarpy County T.R.A.C.E program has resulted in a 43% increase in arrests for procuring and contributing. Several more minor in possession arrests have resulted from more thorough investigations. The program also allowed for more self-initiated investigations by road patrol officers, tougher sentences by the judges, and public awareness through the news and print media.
If you have information regarding persons who are providing alcohol to minors, contact Capt. Daganaar at 402-593-2288. Or email him ---> . You may also contact Sarpy County Crimestoppers.
Oct. 2008
Sarpy County Sheriff's Department is part of Metro Area F.I.R.S.T.
Robert Sorensen of the Fire Guard has announced the donation of a used rescue vehicle to the F.I.R.S.T. (Fatal Incident Response and Support Team). The vehicle will respond to investigate major crashes in the Omaha Metro area. F.I.R.S.T is a team of highly-trained accident reconstruction investigators. The F.I.R.S.T started through a grant from the Nebraska's Office of Highway Safety.
The F.I.R.S.T. team is made up of officers from the Nebraska State Patrol, Douglas, Sarpy, Cass, Washington and Dodge county law enforcement agencies.
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LaVista Chief Bob Lauston |
NSP Troop A
Commander Thomas Schwarten
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Douglas County Sheriff Tim Dunning |
Sarpy County Sheriff Jeff Davis |
Sept. 2008
New Sheriff Administrative Building in Planning Stages
As part of an expansion project of the Sarpy County Courthouse offices, the next phase of construction will include building a new Sheriff's Department located at 84th and Platteview Roads. Once the building is complete, the operations for the Sheriff's Office Administrative, Road Patrol and Investigations departments will be re-located to the new building. The start of construction has not yet been determined and plans are still underway. The current law enforcement center, located near the Sarpy County Courthouse, will be constructed to expand the Sarpy County Jail and jail administrative offices.
Sept. 2008
Sheriff Davis Initiates Project Lifesaver in Sarpy County
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Transmitting bracelet sends a signal |
In September, 2008, the Sarpy County Sheriff's Office announced the implementation of Project Lifesaver. Project Lifesaver is an electronic tracking device that allows law enforcement to find someone who has wandered away from family and return them to the care of a loved one quickly and safely. The Sheriff's Office, in cooperation with the Nebraska State Patrol, Bellevue, LaVista and Papillion Police Departments are registering citizens into the program who are at risk to wander from their families.
Clients with cognitive disorders, Autism, Alzheimer's' or other types of dementia will be fitted with a small transmitter that emits a unique radio signal every second. The signal can be tracked by hand held or vehicle mounted receivers. There have been over 1700 Project Lifesaver call-outs since the concept was started in 1999. The device has a 100% success rate. The average time to find a missing person is 30 minutes. For a person with Alzheimer's or other dementia-related illness, there is only a 50% chance of finding someone alive if they are not found in the first 24 hours. In Nebraska, with the possibility of severe weather in the winter and dangerous temperatures in the summer, a 30-minute search saves man power, saves money and most important of all, will save lives! When a client is missing, the caregiver will call 911 and specially trained officers will respond to locate the missing person.
The equipment and training for the Sarpy County Project Lifesaver Program was funded through a grant from the Midlands Community Foundation.
If families or care facilities would like more information regarding Project Lifesaver in Sarpy County, they can call any of the law enforcement agencies mentioned or Email: projectlifesaver@sarpy.com.
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Receivers track the location of the bracelet |
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Sept. 2008