MORGAN COUNTY, Mo. — There are plenty of reasons to grow a mustache or beard, especially during the cold winter months. For Morgan County Sheriff's Deputies, facial hair is prohibited; but for the next two months Sheriff Norman Dills is making an exception.
The Morgan County Sheriff’s Department Auxiliary wanted to make Christmas a little nicer for a handful of Morgan County families, so they are conducting a raffle to raise funds to give five families Christmas presents, food, and help with their electric bill. To do this, they are raffling off an AR-15, a pistol, and a Yeti cooler. The raffle tickets will be sold through Friday, Dec. 8, and can be purchased from deputies, or at the sheriff’s office.
To help sell raffle tickets, Sheriff Dills has given his deputies an incentive: any deputy that sells at least $100 in raffle tickets will be allowed to grow a beard or mustache (or both!) during the month of November and December. So buying raffle tickets means the chance to win, and to keep deputies' faces warm!
Sheriff Dills: Seeking To Make A Difference
Morgan County Sheriff Norman Dills was elected to the office that leads the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department in January 2017. He pursued a career in law enforcement because, he wanted to “make a difference in the community.”
Some of the biggest challenges are drug abuse and domestic abuse.
“Methamphetamine is the biggest drug problem in Morgan County, and Mexico is the largest provider of meth,” Sheriff Dills said. “People can buy it cheap, and they don’t have to risk getting caught buying what they need to cook it.” He said the worst cases are those involving children.
There were a total of 270 felony charges filed, in all of 2016; by the end of September of this year, the prosecutor's office had already matched that number.
“I have found that drugs are a generational problem,” Sheriff Dills said. “If we busted the dad, chances are we will bust his kids later. The answer is to aggressively involve and educate kids.”
Opioids are also a big problem in Morgan County, as well as across the entire nation. The Morgan County Sheriff’s Department recently equipped all patrol deputies and detectives with NARCAN, paid in full by a Community Leaders Educating About Resistance (CLEAR) Grant. NARCAN is used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
It turnout to be life-saving blessing for a young Morgan County man that NARCAN was a tool in a deputy’s arsenal. Early on Sunday, Sept. 17, Morgan County Deputies were called to a home on Route TT, where they found an unresponsive 20-year old male lying on the floor. The deputies administered NARCAN to revive the young man, and he started breathing again. Witnesses stated the man had drank from a jar containing an unknown liquid. Ambulance personnel arrived on scene and took over treatment of the patient. The patient later refused to be transported by medical personnel, and was taken by friends to a local hospital for further treatment. Deputies report they seized suspected Fentanyl and drug paraphernalia from the residence.
From January to June 2017, the county prosecutor’s office handled 109 domestic violence cases, with 24 cases investigated by the Division of Family Services, due to allegations of child abuse. There were also 34 burglaries in Morgan County in 2016.
The department relies on assistance from alert and watchful citizens to give them information about suspicious activity in their neighborhood. To anonymously report crime, go to their website at morgancountymoso.org, call the Morgan County Sheriff’s office at 573 374-5481, or email the tip to info@morgancountymoso.org.
