Pubdate: Mon, 23 Sep 2002 Source: Oklahoman, The (OK) Copyright: 2002 The Oklahoma Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.oklahoman.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/318 Author: Bryan Dean, The Oklahoman THOUSANDS OF WARRANTS BACKLOGGED Some Surrender on Own More than 40 Sheriff's deputies say the number continues to grow because the department charged with serving them doesn't have enough deputies or enough money to clear the hundreds of arrest warrants issued every week. Deputies in the Oklahoma County Fugitive Squad said they have to choose carefully which warrants they serve. Sgt. Frank Bone, Deputy Larry Grant, Deputy Beverly Matthews and Deputy Jim Lilly cruise the streets of Oklahoma County every day, looking for fugitives wanted on charges such as embezzlement, assault and battery, and murder. "We try to concentrate on any of them that involve violence," Lilly said. "The next thing is the drugs. A large portion of the warrants that include violence are a result of somebody trying to feed a drug habit or dealing drugs." Still, the backlog grows. "There's no way to stay ahead of it," Lilly said. "Certainly, if we had unlimited manpower, we could do it. But with the limited number that we have it's insurmountable to begin with, and we also have other investigations that we get involved in." Any number of things pull the deputies off warrant duty. When they go to a house to serve a warrant, they may find a meth lab or a child being neglected. "We end up having to follow up on those investigations, so we might be tied up for two days after that finishing up the investigation that we initiated by knocking on the door," Lilly said. These cases also require the deputies to make court appearances. The sheriff's department also conducts warrant sweeps to clear hundreds of warrants in one night. The sweeps require about a month of preparation but are well worth the hours, Lilly said. "People who think that they may possibly have a warrant see that on television and they think, 'I don't want to be on television going to jail,' " Lilly said. "I don't know how much our surrenders increase after a warrant sweep, but it is dramatic. It's not just the 200 people we arrest that night. We'll end up with an additional 2,000 people that took care of what they needed to take care of so that they don't get picked up." Deputies are working with the state Health Department to clear the warrants of the dead. Deputies said they sometimes discover after hours of investigation that the person they are searching for has been dead for some time. Even with those efforts, tens of thousands of unserved warrants remain. It's a common problem in counties with high populations. Charlotte, N.C., similar in size to Oklahoma City, has 36,000 unserved warrants. Baton Rouge, La., has 56,000 unserved warrants. Many counties have dramatically cut their backlogs by buying new computer systems and hiring additional staff. Oklahoma County had 60,000 unserved warrants until Sheriff John Whetsel put them all on a computer and eliminated warrants on those already in custody. The only thing that is going to have a real effect on Oklahoma County's remaining unserved warrants is hiring more deputies and buying new computer systems that will help officers locate people more effectively, said Capt. Kelly Marshall, commander of the judicial services division and the fugitive squad. Such relief could be on the way. Proponents of a sales tax to help fund the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Department and the jail delivered a petition Sept. 9 with more than 36,000 signatures. Once those signatures are certified, county commissioners will schedule the issue for a special election within 60 days. "I feel like as small as our division is, we use our manpower wisely," Marshall said. "I hate that it may come down to this, but we need more deputies. We've trimmed all that we can." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake