Frye
SIDNEY — “2022 was a very productive year for the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, as we were able to acquire over $160,000 in grants for the Sheriff’s Office,” said Sheriff Jim Frye. “With these grants and the continued support of the Shelby County Commissioners, we were able to purchase and implement a state-of-the-art body camera system, along with each patrol vehicle being upgraded with this system. The new body camera system helps keep the Sheriff’s Office in compliance with the Ohio Collaborative, which is a complete set of policies and procedures that the State of Ohio has put in place. The cameras protect our deputies with documenting all their interactions with the public.”
His report continues:
We received grant money for a physical fitness room, which was stocked with the latest workout equipment. We also added several new forensics items for investigation within the detective section. A new drone was also purchased, as many agencies are going away from Air Support and utilizing drones. The new drone has the capabilities of infrared, which will allow such things as searching for a missing person, where the camera would show a heat signature. All of these things help keep us in compliance with the Ohio Collaborative. Training was again a priority for the office, as our training deputy continued to keep the staff UpToDate with the new trends facing law enforcement.
In 2022 we had an overall increase in calls and cases handled. We continued to see drugs as a factor in the majority of the crimes investigated. The office continues to strive to provide the residents of Shelby County with a professional and courteous law enforcement agency. The Sheriff’s Office continued our partnership with Mclean Township and the village of Fort Loramie to providing a full-time deputy assigned specifically to the Township and Village and will continue that into 2023. We also continued a grant to provide a marine patrol on Lake Loramie for 2022 and will continue that service for 2023, as all three of these collaborations are productive for the citizens and communities they serve.
With collaborated efforts of the Shelby County Commissioners and the Sheriff’s Office, we continue to strive to save valuable tax payers money. With the ever-increasing operating cost, the Sheriff’s Office continues to offset some of those cost by entering into contractual services with other governmental agencies. For 2022 the Sheriff’s Office continued contracts with the following agencies: McLean Township, village of Fort Loramie, United States Marshalls Service, for the housing of Federal inmates, Federal transports, Out of County contracts for the housing of inmates, Police services with the Village of Russia, the City of Sidney inmate labor program, Ohio Department of Transportation inmate labor program, City housing of inmates, and Wilson Health for Deputies assigned to the hospital. These contracts brought in a total of $1,209,381.59.
The Sheriff’s Office dispatch center logged 25,358 calls for service in 2022 this was up from 21,164 calls for service during 2021. The road patrol logged 548 traffic stops in 2022, down from 571 in 2019. They issued 164 citations and 383 warnings. We handled 565 vehicle crashes in 2022 this was slightly higher than the 557 vehicle crashes in 2021. The Sheriff’s Office handled four fatalities in 2022 up from two fatalities in 2021. The office made 17 adult OVI in 2022 up from 14 in 2021. The office handled 1,778 felony criminal cases in 2022, down from 1,916 in 2021. There were 141 criminal arrests in 2022, up from 125 for 2021. We handled 98 calls to assist outside agencies or units in 2022, this was down from 117 for 2021. We added an additional detective to the detective section in 2022 and we continued our collaboration with the U.S. Marshal’s Office by providing a full-time Deputy to the fugitive task force.
The SORN office supervised 116 sex offenders in 2022, six juvenile offenders and four arson offenders. The deputy assigned to this department handled all the supervision of the offenders to include their required reporting and the verification of assigned addresses. They made 362 offender checks during 2022.
The records section processed 1929 civil papers for 2022. Along with processing papers, they issued 110 new CCW permits and 415 renewals in 2022, in comparison to 469 new permits, 1,129 renewals in 2021. They also continued to process background checks for various entities within Shelby County.
In 2022 the Shelby County Animal Shelter took in a total of 473 dogs, up from 400 in 2021. Of these dogs, 299 were claimed by their owners and 148 were adopted. Based on these numbers, 94.5% of our population were reunited or found new homes for the 2022 year. There were 233 cats adopted from the animal shelter in 2022. Along with the efforts of SCARF, the City of Sidney and grant funds, 261 cats went through the TNR program. At the completion of 2022 a total of 1,434 cats had been spayed, neutered or euthanized within the County. The Animal Shelter is supervised by the Sheriff’s Office.
The Shelby County jail had an average daily population of 100 for 2022. Total number of inmates incarcerated in 2022 was 1093. The following is a breakdown of arrest by agency.
Municipal Court 194
Common Pleas Court 296
Ohio State Patrol 14
Shelby County Sheriff’s Office 160
Sidney PD 327
Village Police Departments 40
Adult Patrol 11
Federal Prisoners 47
In 2022 we continued these programs which are funded by the inmates using the system and generate revenue for the betterment of the inmates. The Sheriff’s Office continued to conduct various jail programs, such as Fresh favorites, E-cigarettes, Whole pizza, Commissary, Securus Phone system, and the HomeWav video visitation. All these programs are an incentive for good behavior. The total revenue generated by these programs was $222,187.13.
2022 we conducted 638 transports from the jail to various other facilities. Our transport Deputies logged 43,431 miles and traveled to Indiana three times, Georgia one time, Michigan five times, Kansas one time, Tennessee six, Kentucky five, Oklahoma one time, Arizona one time and Florida two. These transports were all for subjects who were arrested on outstanding warrants.
The Commissioners continue to support capital improvements within the jail. In 2022 the flooring project was started and is continuing. The jail floor was stripped of the old tile and the concrete was stripped down and polished. The lobby tile and half wall were removed, and new laminate flooring was installed.
STAR house has had a total of 27 program graduates since opening in May 2019. Of the 27 graduates, we had eight graduates in 2022. We have a total of seven staff: five full-time and two part-time staff assisting residents in their recovery journey.
There are currently 16 residents in the program, with a maximum of 20 residents. In the past 4 months of 2022 we have had four residents obtain their driver’s license and purchase their own vehicles, along with two residents currently working on obtaining their GED.
All program residents are required to obtain and maintain full-time employment, pay weekly program fees, pass drug screens, maintain compliance with probation and counseling services, meet regularly with a sponsor/mentor, and attend sober supported meetings. Residents also work on their personal goals, complete a weekly budget, and meet regularly with one of our two Certified Peer Recovery Specialists.
As of Jan. 11, 2023, we partnered with Bridges Community Action with a graduate house. This partnership was established due to the safe housing barrier that some residents face due to their criminal record. By them graduating the STAR House program and transitioning to the graduate house, this allows more time for Bridges to work with them on the housing component, while the STAR House maintains Peer Support services and random drug screens while they are in the graduate home.
The Sheriff’s Office continued the DARE program, which the DARE Deputy teaches DARE at all the county schools and Sidney City School system. The DARE Deputy conducts many additional programs throughout the County in addition to teaching DARE, also participated in the Shelby County Fair, and attended various other community events.
In 2022 the Sheriff’s Office added an additional K-9, Sarge to the two already in service. This gives the Sheriff’s Office a K-9 on each shift for a total of three teams. K-9 Bandit is handled by Deputy Frank Bleigh, Yago is handled by Deputy Rod Robbins and Sarge is handled by Deputy Justin “JT” Tidwell.
We continue to strive to protect our youth by having school safety officers at all Sidney City Schools and Deputy SROs at Anna, Houston, Fairlawn and Botkins schools. In 2022 Anna School District added an additional SRO to their elementary school. Each of these SRO’s work closely with each of the school districts that have response teams striving to provide a safe environment for our students and staff. It is our goal to continue to do anything we can to protect our students.
It is a pleasure and honor serving as your sheriff; we are looking forward to making 2023 a safe, supportive and prosperous year for all residents and visitors of Shelby County.
