Muskogee County Sheriff's Office

Muskogee County Sheriff's Office
Abbreviation	MCSO
Agency overview
Formed	1907
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction	Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA
	Map of Muskogee County Sheriff's Office's jurisdiction.
Size	829 square miles (2,150 km2)
Population	69,451 (2008 est.)
General nature	Local civilian police;
Operational structure
Headquarters	Muskogee, Oklahoma

Muskogee County Sheriff's Office is the chief law enforcement agency in Muskogee County, Oklahoma, with primary jurisdiction in the unincorporated areas of the county. Consisting of sheriff's deputies, detention staff and support personnel, the department serves a population of over 70,000 people.

History

The Muskogee County Sheriff's Office was formed in 1907and has been serving the citizens of Muskogee County, Oklahoma ever since.

Leadership

The County Sheriff's Office is under the direction and control of the County Sheriff, who is elected County-wide to serve a four-year term. To assist the Sheriff in the performance of his duties, the Sheriff appoints an Undersheriff to oversee the day-to-day operations of the entire Office and to perform the duties of the Sheriff in his absence. Additionally, the Sheriff employees a Chief Deputy Sheriff, who oversees all law enforcement activities of the Office, and a Jail Superintendent, who is responsible for the management of the County jail and detention center.

Incidents

Civil Forfeiture

On February 27, 2016, Muskogee County sheriff's deputies pulled over Eh Wah on U.S. Route 69 for a broken tail light. Eh Wah, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was carrying cash proceeds from a fundraiser from a Christian band, raised suspicions from the officers due to miscommunication during questioning. Deputies brought out a drug-sniffing dog that gave a positive alert, but did not find any drugs during the search that followed. The deputies instead found and seized $53,249 in cash, citing the "possession of drug proceeds"; the money however was going towards Christian liberal arts college and an orphanage in Thailand. Although Eh Wah was not immediately charged at the scene, a warrant for his arrest was issued on April 5 for acquiring "proceeds from drug activity," citing the alert from the drug-sniffing dog, "inconsistent stories," and the inability to "confirm the money was his" as probable cause. Following national coverage of the incident in the Washington Post, the charges were dropped and the district attorney stated that a check would be issued to refund the full amount confiscated.[1]

Fallen Deputies

Since the establishment of the Muskogee County Sheriff's Office, two deputies have died in the line of duty.[2]

Deputy	Date of Death	Details
Deputy Sheriff James Work	Thursday, May 4, 1911	Gunfire
Deputy Sheriff Henry B. Crane	Wednesday, June 17, 1914	Gunfire
Deputy Sheriff Homer Teaff	Tuesday, June 27, 1922	Gunfire
Deputy Sheriff Joseph P. Morgan	Monday, June 16, 1924	Gunfire
Deputy Sheriff Webster Reece	Saturday, September 17, 1932	Gunfire
Special Deputy Sheriff Andrew McGinnis	Sunday, September 18, 1932	Gunfire

References

"How police took $53,000 from a Christian band, an orphanage and a church". Washington Post. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
The Officer Down Memorial Page

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[1] "How police took $53,000 from a Christian band, an orphanage and a church". Washington Post. Retrieved 25 April 2016.

[2] The Officer Down Memorial Page