New Inmate Phone System Beginning April 6th!

The Santa Rosa Sheriff's Office switched to a new jail inmate phone system

on Monday, April 6th, 2009.

Family members and friends will have to establish an account with Inmate Telephone, Inc. (ITI) if you wish to accept inmate phone calls from this facility. GTL will no longer be the phone vendor after the switch and any balance refunds must be obtained from GTL.

Funds cannot be transferred from GTL to Inmate Telephone, Inc. (ITI).

Click here for additional Information pertaining to the new Inmate Phone System.

Fraudulent Scams of 2009

With the worsening economy experienced by so many of our citizens, many of the criminal element have turned to various scams to separate you from your hard earned money. Although too many to list, Sheriff Wendell Hall and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) have provided a short list to give you a heads up on what might be coming your way. Hopefully, you will never experience this kind of crime so please take a few moments to review some of the ways others have been victimized. Please click here for more information.

 

Sheriff Hall is Man of the Year

Sheriff Wendell Hall was recognized as the Man of the Year for Santa Rosa County during the 73rd Annual Leadership Awards and Installation Banquet at Whiting Field on January 30, 2010. Sheriff Hall's excellent work with the Santa Rosa Kid's House and other extremely worthwhile endeavors for the community has placed him in a position of honor among his contemporaries in Northwest Florida. In making the presentation Joshua Hurst of the Chamber of Commerce stated, "His leadership and dedication was the driving force in creating the Santa Rosa Kids House where he continues to serve as the Chairman today. He was one of the founding members of the Emerald Coast Honor Flight Initiative, and through his efforts raised thousands of dollars for their support. In addition, he participated as a guardian to ensure the well being of three of America's greatest generation on their trip to Washington, D.C. In addition to helping raise funds for construction of the Veteran's Memorial Plaza, Sheriff Hall still fires up the grill for the Navy League Annual Boston Butt Fundraiser to raise money for the Navy Leagues education scholarship and to support the Sea Cadets. In support and recognition of our areas industry he also demonstrates his culinary diversity during the Industry Appreciation Month Fish Fry. A graduate of Leadership Santa Rosa Class #16, Sheriff Hall continues to support the program each year by taking participants through the firing range and K-9 demonstration. Not only does he take his law enforcement responsibilities seriously, he is also committed to the development of our youth through various support programs to ensure good future citizens." Congratulations to Sheriff Hall on this outstanding achievement. For a photo of the award click here.

SAR Group Honors Sheriff

Nancy Locke of SWPANSAR (Southwest Panhandle Search and Rescue) presented a Certificate of Appreciation on January 21, 2010 to Sheriff Wendell Hall of the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office for his support of their team. The Sheriff's Office donated a boat, motor and trailer for their training use.  The boat will be critical for training Human Remains Detection K9's on the water.  The impact of the donation will go beyond their use as it will also allow them to participate in the development and testing of national standards for HRD Water testing.  The department also donated radios, which are greatly needed, and bullet resistant vests to add to their safety equipment. For photos of the presentation please click here.

 

SRSO Deputy Heads for Iraq

Deputy Curtis McQuaid is being deployed to Kuwait and Iraq with his National Guard unit, the 153rd Cavalry Regiment. Over 130 soldiers of the unit said their goodbyes to their families on January 7, 2010 and began the arduous journey to protect this nation's freedom. Sheriff Wendell Hall and the men and women of this agency wish Deputy McQuaid and his comrades the best of luck in their heroic endeavor in behalf of this country. Already deployed to Iraq is Deputy Danny Michael with the US Navy and just returned is Deputy John Younghanse with the US Army. To all the men and women of this department who have fulfilled their duty we give a heartfelt thank you.

 

A SAFER Santa Rosa

The SAFER organization (Support Alliance for Emergency Readiness) is a humanitarian association of independent groups who may be active in all phases of a disaster. Its mission is to foster efficient, streamlined service delivery to people affected by disasters, while eliminating unnecessary duplication of effort, through cooperation in the four phases of disaster: preparation, response, recovery, and mitigation. During periods when there are no disasters to deal with, SAFER attempts to meet the needs of the less fortunate in the community. This may range from providing cold weather shelters, WWII honor flight, homeless veterans, food distributions, etc. For more information on this worthwhile organization please click here.

 

Cash for Appliance Clunkers

After the success of the Cash for Clunkers program, the federal government recently announced the creation of a similar rebate program for those who purchase new energy-efficient appliances. While many details are yet to be determined, your BBB offers guidance to those looking to take advantage of the program. For more on this subject click here.

Internet Sexting

Sexting is the act of sending sexually explicit messages or photos electronically, frequently between cell phones. It is a current trend among teens. According to a 2008 survey commissioned by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 22% of teenage girls and 18% of teenage boys have taken nude or semi-nude photos of themselves and sent them to someone or posted them online. For the consequences of "sexting" please click here.

Fraud Alert: Suspended Bank Account

Beware of a new scam concerning your bank account. Click here for information on this new bank notification sent to you by criminals.

 

Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT)

If you click here you will be able to view the new handbook published by the Students Working Against Tobacco Foundation. The group is dedicated to reducing the frequency of underage use of tobacco products and the health problems that incur because of it.

 

Detention Deputies Needed

The Santa Rosa Sheriff's Office has immediate openings for the position of Detention Deputy. The applicant must be a NON-TOBACCO USER and must be state certified. For more information please go to the top of this page and click on "Careers."

 

Fraud Alert: Jury Scam

Most of us take a summons for jury duty seriously, but enough people skip out on their civic duty, that a new and ominous kind of fraud has surfaced. The caller claims to be a jury coordinator. If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the scammer asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth so he or she can verify the information and cancel the arrest warrant. Give out any of this information and bingo; your identity was just stolen. The fraud has been reported so far in 11 states, including Oklahoma, Illinois, and Colorado. This swindle is particularly insidious because they use intimidation over the phone to try to bully people into giving information by pretending they are with the court system. The FBI and the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites, warning consumers about the fraud. Check it out here:

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/june06/jury_scams060206.htm .

Homeless Prevention/Rapid Re-Housing

If you are currently homeless or at the risk of becoming homeless please click here for some important information. Funds are now available through the "Families Count Service Station" program for citizens of Santa Rosa County.

 

Fraud Alert: Job Hunters Beware

One of the more recents scams by criminals is being directed against those seeking employment. To learn more information please click here for a warning from the Santa Rosa Sheriff's Office and the Better Business Bureau.

 

SRSO Partners with Florida Tissue Services

The Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office is pleased to announce their partnership with Florida Tissue Services in the implementation of their non-hospital death referral program. The Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office has been in this partnership since March 2009. Sheriff Hall believes that the partnership is vital to the community in order to ensure that citizens have the option to honor the wishes of their loved ones. According to Florida Tissue Services, an average of 18 people die each day from the lack of available transplants. One organ donor can save the lives of up to 8 people, and one tissue donor may help restore health to more than 150 people. In Florida alone, there are over 3,600 people on a waiting list. The partnership with law enforcement is vital to this mission. Currently, non-hospital deaths are reported to law enforcement; however they are not required to be reported for tissue consideration. Due to this, if a loved one passes away at home, their wish to donate will most likely be overlooked. In these types of situations, the loved one is taken straight to the funeral home and may not have their donor status checked against the donor registry or with the family.With this partnership, personnel at the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office are educated on how to gather specifically requested information which is required for the referral program. Deputies are not asked to approach the families about the program; they merely gather the information and passing it along to referral program. By doing this simple step, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office has helped in sharing great success in this partnership. In the past 5 months, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office made 69 referrals, with 39 of the potential donors referred being deemed suitable for donation. These families were approached for consent, and bereavement services were extended to support each family. 13 of those approached consented to honoring their loved one through tissue donation. Sheriff Hall is happy to continue his support of the program, ensuring that all citizens of Santa Rosa County are ensured the same options of donation. Sheriff Wendell Hall looks forward to the continued success associated with the program.Florida Tissue Services is a non-profit agency that coordinates tissue donation in Northwest and Northeast Florida , provides an aftercare program for donor families, and teaches the public about donation. Floridians can sign up to be organ and tissue donors at www.DonatelifeFlorida.org .

 

 

 Florida's New Identification Cards

The following information is taken from the Florida DHSMV website and states that, "Florida is leading the nation in an effort to provide our residents with an even more secure identification document. As an esteemed partner, we want to be certain you're the first to know about the upcoming Gather. Go. Get campaign aimed at helping Florida residents prepare for new card requirements. Beginning Jan. 1, 2010, Floridians renewing or obtaining a new driver license/identification card will be required to show proof of (1) identification (2) Social Security number and (3) two items containing your residential address. While some may have no problem putting their fingers on these documents, it might mean some additional preparation for others. To help residents navigate through these new requirements, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) is launching a communication initiative encouraging Floridians to gather your documents, go to a driver license office and get your new card. The “Gather. Go. Get” campaign was originially launched to the general public August 2009. For more information go to www.gathergoget.com or click here.

 

New Laws Becoming Effective in Florida

Every year the Florida legislators pass numerous laws that affect the citizens in our state. Many of those laws became effective on June 30, 2009. Please click here to see a summary of those statutes as provided by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

 

New Sex Offender & Predator Alert System

On March 27, 2008 the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and local law enforcement unveiled a new and innovative feature of Florida's Sexual Offender/Predator Registry Web site. Citizens can now sign up to receive e-mail alert notifications when a registered sexual offender or predator moves into their neighborhood or within a radius of any other designated location.  Citizens can also opt to track address changes reported by selected registered offenders or predators. The service is offered statewide and at no charge. Citizens may select an unlimited number of addresses and/or offenders and predators to track, and can update their selections at any time. The alert system will send e-mail notifications within 24 to 48 hours of an address change to the state's registry. Citizens are encouraged to register for alerts. Florida became the first state to list sexual offenders and predators on the Internet and to make the same information available through a 24-hour/day hotline. The FDLE Sex Offender/Predator Registry currently houses data on more than 47,000 registered sex offenders and predators and the Web site averages more than 500,000 searches per month. Citizens can register for the alerts by visiting www.flsexoffender.net.

 

Protection for Businesses

Sheriff Hall has urged all local businesses to take advantage of a new program to help keep them safe. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has entered into a partnership with Florida's seven Regional Domestic Security Task Forces and has launched "BusinessSAFE" to provide businesses of all types and sizes with new tools to keep them protected. Businesses have the option of registering to receive electronic alert notifications by email, cellular phones, or PDA's. These alerts will provide information about breaking news, possible threats, suspicious activity, and specific preparedness and prevention techniques for your business. To sign up log on to www.fdle.state.fl.us at no costs to the business. FDLE will periodically send out electronic alerts although each business can access pertinent materials on the FDLE website at any time. For more information go to http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/BSafe/ or you call FDLE at 850-410-8690.

 

Emergency Numbers on Cell Phones

Sheriff Hall is urging everyone to take a moment and consider adding an ICE (In Case of Emergency) number to their cell phones. June is National Safety Month and it is the perfect time to ICE your phone as an easy and quick way to save a life. To make this even simpler his agency has developed a MAD form (click here to access) for you to complete and give to your emergency contact that is attached to the alert. Please feel free to copy as many of these as you need and encourage your family and friends to ICE their phones. As an added safety measure you can place a copy in our wallet and in your glove box.