January 4, 2019
By Paragon News Director Paul Joseph –
New tools in law enforcement are making a big difference catching bad guys and keeping citizens safe.
Beckham County Sheriff Derek Manning says the new advances in technology on the ground and in the air along with the ability to have and use a trained K-9 unit makes law enforcement today a totally different type of job.
Manning, who was elected sheriff in November of 2016, had been out of law enforcement since about 2004 when he retired as an Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper. Since that time, Manning was a retail store owner and a newspaper publisher.
Today, he’s busy with a fleet of vehicles, deputies and a jail as well as keeping Beckham County citizens safe and protected.
Manning says one of the tools he finally acquired was a K-9 unit, though it took a number of months after he placed the order to get the specialized animal.
Manning says being able to have a set of eyes in the sky not only adds a great perspective, it also makes the job of law enforcement safer. He says it’s one of the most used tools his department employs.
He sites the K-9 unit, the drone and two pieces of technology as having the greatest impact in law enforcement, OTIS 2 which is the department’s software and the GEOsafe satelite positioning system that lets all officers know where they are and where each of the other deputies are. He says it’s a whole new ball game.
Manning previously served with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol for almost two decades with assignments in Logan County and Beckham County before eventually retiring to join his wife at the Daily Elk Citian newspaper from 2003 to 2013 newspaper.
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