The Badge

Sheriff’s Department collects 212 pounds of un-needed prescription drugs

The Sheriff’s Department and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration helped the public prevent pill abuse and theft by collecting potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs on Drug Take-Back Day, Oct. 29, 2011. The public was encouraged to bring medications for disposal from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. The service was free and anonymous, no questions asked.  Nationwide, the DEA and partner agencies collected 377086 pounds of unused medications.

We collected the largest amount of recycled prescription drugs in St. Clair County!

Department	Pounds
Sheriff’s Department	212
O’Fallon PD	133
Belleville PD	36
Fairview Heights PD	30
Swansea PD	26
Total Collected	437

We partner with the DEA twice a year to collect prescription medications. But you don’t have to wait until the next collection day. We ha a permanent collection container in the lobby of the Sheriff’s Department.

Free Gun Locks!

FREE! Gun locks. As a firearm owner, it is your responsibility to know how to properly handle any firearm you own and also to know how to secure your firearm in a safe manner in your home. We have gun locks available at no charge. Thanks to Project Child Safe!

CrimeReports: Crime mapping comes to St. Clair County

The residents of St. Clair County, Illinois now have free access to official, timely crime data on the Department’s Website: www.mysheriff.us. This is possible thanks to a partnership with CrimeReports, creators of the National Crime Map, at www.CrimeReports.com. This service gives the public access to the most accurate street-level crime and sex offender information available.

St. Clair County 911 and St. Clair County Data Processing worked closely with the Sheriff’s Department to provide this service. Information is updated once every 24 hours directly through the dispatcher’s terminals. Addresses have been modified to show the nearest block for each reported activity, not the actual address.

This service allows our investigators to understand crime trends, share up-to-date information with the public, and receive valuable intelligence from the community; necessary tools to help improve community safety. The public can access the crime map, create or join neighborhood groups and share information with their neighbors and with the Sheriff’s Department.

Providing reliable, timely information to our citizens is one of our top priorities. Partnering with CrimeReports gives us the ability to keep the public informed on a regular basis as to what’s going on in the community. The public can access the map 24 hours a day through the website or through the CrimeReports iPhone app, available for free download in the apple iTunes store. An Android app is under development. The new service even allows residents to sign up for free customizable email alerts, so they can stay on top of crime in their neighborhood. Information is power, and giving the community this information will help prevent crime in their neighborhoods.

The St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department is joining over 1,600 other law enforcement agencies of all sizes across North America who are sharing their crime information with the public through the map, like Baltimore, Boston, San Jose, San Francisco, Portland, Washington D.C., Los Angeles County and more.

You can access your local crime map and sign up for daily, weekly, or monthly email crime reports at www.mysheriff.us .

Click on the CrimeReports icon on this page to go directly to the map.

Red Ribbon Week being celebrated in local schools

Monday, Oct. 25, 2010

Today kicks off this year's Red Ribbon Week, a national campaign that encourages kids to make healthy lifestyle choices by resisting drugs, alchohol and tobacco.

Schools throughout the metro-east will be celebrating Red Ribbon Week through several activities and guest speakers.

For example, the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department's K-9 unit will visit Emge Junior High School in Belleville Tuesday during "Sock it to Drugs Day," when students can wear silly socks. At O'Fallon Township High School, students and staff can will be wearing red "Hugs Not Drugs" T-shirts Wednesday for Wear Red Day, and Belleville's Jefferson School will be decked out in Halloween costumes Friday to "Say Boo to Drugs."

Read more: http://www.bnd.com/2010/10/25/1450405/red-ribbon-week-being-celebrated.html#ixzz13TKTgB58

The Exterminator

The Exterminator

Sheriff’s Department Introduces “The Exterminator” to Shame Suspects

Belleville, Ill.  – The St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department has an innovative, low-budget way to fight crime. Park an unmanned, rebuilt armored truck, complete with video cameras, digital recorders and live streaming video, in front of the dwellings of troublemakers. 

Firearms Safety Class

Our NRA First Steps Pistol class was a great success. We’re planning to conduct another class in the spring of 2011.

Firearm Safety Class October 3, 2010

First Steps Pistol

The St. Clair County Sheriff's Department  will host an NRA First Steps Pistol course on October 3, 2010 from 10:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. The course will be taught by local NRA Certified Instructors and will cover the basics of safe firearm handling. The class will be taught at the Cahokia Police Department Training Room. (Please DO NOT call the Cahokia PD for information.)

Why FIRST STEPS?

 “To provide beginning shooters with an introduction to the knowledge, skills, and attitude necessary to own and use a specific pistol model safely.”

 Are you looking to purchase a new pistol? Would you like to learn how to safely use, store, and clean a pistol you already own? 

 The FIRST (Firearms Instruction, Responsibility, and Safety Training) Steps Pistol course is taught by NRA Certified Pistol Instructors who are also certified by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board and regularly teach for the Police and Corrections Academies.

A good old fashioned corn boilin'

Sheriff Justus held two old fashioned Corn Boilin's this week. Fresh corn was boiled with water super heated by an antique steam tractor. Served with fresh tomatoes and hoe cakes. Senior citizens from around the county were invited.

More photos here.

Take Back the Park

The Lincolnshire Neighborhood Watch Association held its first annual "Take Back the Park" picnic at Loop Creek Park. The picnic celebrates the partnership between the neighbor hood and the Sheriff's Department.  More Photos here

Metro Air Support

Officers from Metro Air Support dropped in for a visit this afternoon.

The St. Louis Metropolitan, St. Louis County Police Department, and St. Charles County Sheriff's Department Metro Air Support unit conducts a varied range of assignments throughout a year. Their primary mission is to provide an aerial platform to assist the officers riding beats. Other operations include providing a means to increase officer safety, suspect searches, locating lost children and adults, a rapid response to criminal activities in progress and covert surveillance. In addition, they provide the region’s only water and high-rise rescue aerial resource.

Learn more about St. Louis Metro Air Support