News from Your Sheriff-October 2022

Welcome to beautiful October Clare County. We can all be thankful for where we live in our little corner of Michigan. Our hearts go out to the citizens of Florida. During the months of August and September 2022 the Clare County Central Dispatch documented 6,215 incidents in Clare County, with your deputies handling 3,640 of those incidents. Other law enforcement handled 1,903 which includes the Clare City Police, Michigan State Police, and the DNR. Fire departments responded to 286 calls. MMR Ambulance responded to 419 calls, and your Animal Control officer handled 169 calls during this period. We currently have 128 people in our jail which consist of 70 local, 54 federal, and 4 diverted felons.

This is a reminder that this time of year is what we call “Car Deer Season.” Every year from October through the end of November we see the highest numbers of car deer crashes in Clare County. There are not too many people that live here who can say they never hit a deer or had one run into their vehicle. I can’t even remember how many over the years I had run into a patrol car that I was driving. In 2021, we handled 541 deer crashes, a little less than in 2020 when we handled 584. The highest number occur at dusk and into the dark times. If traveling during those times, slow down a little in the areas known for the higher deer populations.

We are into a new budget year and looking good for this next fiscal calendar year. We will be ordering a couple new transport vans for the jail and a couple new patrol units. Like everything else, it is taking a long time to acquire new vehicles, especially the patrol cars. We have training and schooling getting scheduled for our employees. We are looking at training in accident reconstruction, Field Training Officer, administrative leadership classes, defensive tactics, and other areas as needed. We were able to purchase a MILO Training System through grant funds this past year. This system will put our deputies in a real-world virtual environment which is a scenario base system. We are currently down 3 Deputies, one dispatcher, and the jail is down one correction officer position. We are actively trying to recruit qualified people to fill those positions.

Be Safe, Be Strong

GOD Bless

Sheriff John S Wilson