Helping Keep Our Communities Safe
Emergency services like police, fire and rescue provide for the safety and well-being of a community and its citizens. Across the state, tribal nations are forming partnerships with their local departments to assist where they can — whether it’s providing manpower to help address immediate threats and needs or through donations that go toward the purchase of life-saving equipment.
Cross-Deputization With Police Forces
Rogers County in northeast Oklahoma has densely populated rural areas and small municipalities within the county. “It puts the focus of the responsibility to serve the masses of the people on the sheriff’s office,” notes Rogers County Sheriff Scott Walton. “Our staffing levels, our vehicles, our investigative unit, even our detention facility, struggles to keep up with those demands.”
The good news for Walton and the citizens of Rogers County is that they have willing partners in the area’s tribal nations. “We’re fortunate to be able to network, cross paths, share responsibilities, missions and goals.”
The same is true in Ada. Police Chief Tracy Jackson credits the cross-deputization agreement between the Chickasaw Lighthorse Police Department and the sheriff’s office for creating better communication and safer responses that benefit everyone in the community.
Over the 20-year partnership, it’s open communication and joint training initiatives that have allowed the Ada Police Department and Chickasaw Lighthorse Police Department to work as one unit. “Not one agency can do it all. It requires us to work in partnership and collaborate, whether that’s manpower issues, training, intelligence or serving the community as a whole,” says Chief of Police Charles Palmer of the Chickasaw Lighthorse Police.
“Whether it’s providing emergency response, providing service to victims or the prosecution of cases, it takes all of us working hand-in-hand to ensure that the criminal justice process within the Chickasaw Nation is strong.”
State-of-the-Art Equipment
Tribal nations are helping communities not only by providing boots on the ground, but something equally as important — the funds to purchase new equipment for emergency responders. Thanks to a contribution from the Delaware Nation, the Anadarko Fire Department now relies on a thermal imaging camera to see through smoke and rescue potential victims quicker.
Another donation helped purchase a brush truck which is used for grass and land fires. “Having that piece of equipment enables us to have a better response, and a safer response, so that we can minimize the threat,” says Fire Chief Greg Stone.
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