Friday, November 13th 2009, 4:16 pm
By Gan Matthews, NEWS 9
NORMAN, Oklahoma -- New things are happening in Cleveland County. A new jail is now under construction and new ideas have taken hold in county law enforcement.
There's a new look at the Cleveland County Sheriff's office. First, the new logo that Shift Sergeant Dan Piazza and another officer co-designed.
"By showing the design of the county, one, you can recognize, you know, that we do represent the Sheriff's Office that we represent as a whole," Sgt. Piazza said.
And along with the new logo came new uniforms.
"The old uniforms, the gray and the blacks, were very worn," said Cleveland County Undersheriff Rhett Burnett. "They've had them for years. They're becoming sort of unserviceable."
Beyond the new look, Sheriff Joe Lester has introduced a new patrolling philosophy. No longer are officers patrolling the unincorporated areas of the county. Now they patrol within the city limits of Norman, Moore, and Oklahoma City, augmenting the police forces there.
"Since we're not responsible for taking calls inside the city limits, it lets us focus more on patrols, community activities and community involvement," Piazza said.
When they do make traffic stops, Cleveland County officers usually issue warnings, not citations. The ratio is approximately 21 warnings to one citation. The Undersheriff said that policy is designed to modify behavior.
"It's not a profit-making entity for us to write a ticket, it's to try to slow down and keep people safe," Burnett said.
November 13th, 2009
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