One day after the Morgan County Sheriff's Office launched a Facebook page Jan. 5, administrators posted photos of four individuals with felony warrants for their arrest.
Within 48 hours, the department arrested three of the four men.
"It was all information received through Facebook or people who had seen it on Facebook and called the office," Sheriff Norman Dills said.
Information received Jan. 6 indicated 39-year-old Jerry Whisler Jr., who had a felony warrant for failure to appear on dangerous drugs charges with no bond, would be on an Amtrak train traveling from Kansas City to Sedalia, according to a Morgan County Sheriff's Office news release. The sheriff's office contacted the Sedalia Police Department, which arrested Whisler at the Amtrak station.
The department received information Jan. 7 regarding 43-year-old Zeus Radcliff, who had a felony warrant for non-support with a cash bond of $61,000. A possible address in Blue Springs was sent to the police department. Blue Springs was unable to locate Radcliff at that address, but they were provided with another possible address in Independence. The Independence Police Department checked that location, where they arrested Radcliff.
Information on another wanted subject, 35-year-old Kenyon Dubois, was also given to the sheriff's office Jan. 7. Deputies arrived at a residence on Route MM in Morgan County, observing Dubois outside the residence before running inside the house. Dubois, who was wanted for first-degree burglary and second-degree assault, was taken into custody with no bond available.
While at that residence, a second person fled out the back door and was detained after a short foot pursuit. Steven Uber was charged with delivery of a controlled substance and is being held on a $50,000 bond. The Morgan County Sheriff's Office received consent to search the residence and discovered approximately 15 grams of methamphetamine. A third person was also located in the residence and was arrested on a warrant from Macon County.
Colby Eli Vansell, 31, is still wanted on a felony warrant for amphetamine possession with a $75,000 bond.
To create the wanted criminals posting, Dills asked Morgan County Prosecuting Attorney Dustin Dunklee to give him four people in need of apprehension. The quick success from the public's assistance has prompted both the prosecutor's office and other entities to share information about additional wanted individuals.
"Now, (Dunklee) has given me another list, and probation and parole has seen it and given me a list of absconders," Dills said. "It would be nice to put four new people on there every day. I think it is better to do a weekly posting, let it sit there for a while and let people see it. If you start overloading it, people will be disinterested in it."
Dills also plans to repost the information about individuals who have not been apprehended monthly to develop additional leads.
The Morgan County Sheriff's Office also posted images of a possible suspect needed for questioning following a recent string of burglaries in the Route FF and Big Buffalo area of the county.
On Tuesday, the department posted a graphic displaying a man captured on game cameras at one of the residences burglarized, Dills said. The two burglaries occurred near the end of Route FF at the Benton/Morgan County line.
"That post has been shared more than 300 times with thousands of views. We have had tips come in on that posting, and we are following up on tips," Dills said.
The social media outlet not only allows residents to help locate wanted individuals and gather leads on cases, it also advises the public on what the department is doing, he added.
"People also really want to help, and this gives them a way to contact us very easily," he said. "I would like everybody in the state to like our Facebook. Unfortunately, a lot of the people that commit crimes in this county are not from here. The more people that can see it, the better."
Other Morgan County
Sheriff's Office adjustments
Dills returned to law enforcement after about 12 years running a Cargill-contracted hog, grain and cattle farm in Eldon. His prior service to the Morgan County Sheriff's Office under former sheriffs Sonny Earnest and Jim Petty has shown him many things within the department are running efficiently. However, Dills has made a few adjustments since starting his job this year.
On Jan. 1, the sheriff's office departed from its longtime service to the Mid-Missouri Drug Task Force, which investigates drug-related crimes across multiple counties in Central Missouri. A member since the organization was founded in 2002, the department hired Capt. JD Williams as a full-time employee to lead drug investigations in Morgan County specifically.
"We are focusing on drug activity in our county instead of being part of a multi-county task force," Dills said. "Williams, who was with the task force, will head up drug investigations. He has lived here his whole life and worked for Sheriff Earnest and Sheriff Petty before he went to the task force."
Like neighboring counties, Dills has seen an increase of heroin use in Morgan County. Outside of more aggressive approaches to battle this trend, the department is considering putting Narcan, a naloxone HCI spray designed to reverse overdose effects from opioids, in deputies' vehicles.
There was an incident last fall in the county where the use of Narcan - given by medical personnel - helped save a woman's life from an overdose, Dills said. There have also been a few incidents with overdoses recently, and Narcan gives deputies a chance to prevent overdoses, as law enforcement often are the first on the scene, he added.
The department also has implemented a new records management system and last fall made the evidence officer position a full-time job. The sheriff's office is scanning and using bar codes for all of its evidence, incorporating that information into its new management system, with the new officer overseeing those duties.
"It is a work in progress. There are a lot of pieces of items to put in the computer. Hopefully, we can go in our evidence locker and scan everything and audit it more efficiently and more often with less man hours involved," Dills said.