Everyone at the Sheriff's Office wants this to be a safe and healthy school year for all of our students. We take threats to the students and School Administration serious and will investigate complaints as they come in. People in the Castle School District need to be aware that there will be heavy traffic congestion, and they need to drive appropriately. Please allow yourself extra time in the mornings if you are taking your child to school. If you want to do your part to alleviate traffic congestion in this area, please let your child ride the school bus in the morning and in the evening if they don't have events that they have to attend after the school day is over. We all pay taxes to run those buses so you may as well use them. The School Resource Officers will be in the schools daily, and your child can reach out to them with information or problems that are occuring in their lives.

Please pay attention to your child when they are trying to have a conversation with you. They may have important information to pass along to you if they feel that you are interested and listening to them.

Make sure that you talk to your child about alcohol and drugs. Give them something to do that occupies their time. A child with a lot of idle time is more likely to get into trouble than someone that is busy.

Many new cellphones have the capability to restrict usage when you are driving. The only number they can call is 911. Distractions are the biggest cause of traffic crashes, take as many distractions away from your young drivers as you can.

Have a safe and happy school year.

Traffic Safety: Many people report traffic problems in certain areas, those complaints are received and passed on to the motor patrol officers. We attempt to cover as many of the areas as possible, however it is impossible to keep officers at these locations on a permanent basis because of emergency calls that come in to dispatch. All of us need to slow down, concentrate on our driving, and try to keep distractions out of our lives when we are operating a motor vehicle. Traveling a short distance such as Newburgh to Evansville, you do not gain much time by speeding or rolling through a Stop Sign. In fact if you are stopped by the police you will lose five minutes of the time that you were attempting to gain. It is a lot safer to get organized and leave five minutes earlier than to attempt to make up for lost time in transit. Every crash occurs because someone operating a motor vehicle was not paying attention and following the rules. Everyone please slow down and drive carefully. Your family is depending on you to get where you are going.

Indiana's Senate Bill 1

There has been a lot of publicity about the new law concerning citizens protecting themselves and their property. Basically the law states that a person has a right to protect themselves in their residence from physical harm, and they do not have to retreat.

Fortunately in Warrick County most of the citizens respect Law Enforcement Officers, and the Law Enforcement Officers respect the citizens Constitutional Rights.

That being said, the law has not changed when it comes to Resisting Law Enforcement. Every citizen should educate themselves concerning the law, as ignorance of the law is no excuse. The Criminal Laws of the State of Indiana can be found by visiting the Secretary of States website or by visiting the State of Indiana website IN.GOV.  

Telephone scams

The telephone scam artists have risen to a new level. Now they have gotten the police involved by telling you that they will call the police if you don't send them the money. They then call the police and have them come by to check on your welfare, or call in a bogus complaint and get the police to come by and investigate. This is all part of their game. If the police show up at your residence unexpected, and you have received telephone calls from someone in the past couple of days wanting you to wire them money, don't be afraid to tell the police about the scam.

Most of the time the people running the scam will request that you wire them money to a foreign country. The will use the story that you have won an international lottery, and that the money goes to pay the taxes. They will also say that a relative has been arrested or been involved in a traffic accident and that you need to wire money to pay legal bills or bail.

Remember, once you wire money it is gone, there will be no refund. Most of these scams are run from a foreign country and the money cannot be traced.

Communicate with your children

Your kids need your guidance every day. Take an active role in their lives and listen to what they have to say. Remind them that the choices that they make today will affect the rest of their lives. Share with them your life experiences and tell them what you learned from your mistakes. Kids today are faced with a lot more challenges than you were at their age. Try to understand their problems and help them deal with their issues. If we can educate the younger generation, maybe we can eliminate the demand for illegal drugs in the future. Without the demand, the supply will take care of itself. If we don't have a drug problem there will be a lot less crime to deal with also.

Meth Lab Activity

Meth Labs continue to be one of the biggest challenges that the law enforcement community faces. There are new methods being used all of the time to manufacture methamphetamine. What used to take several hours has been cut down to a process that only takes an hour. These new one-pot methods are very volatile, and are causing problems within the neighborhoods because they are easy to conceal. They still produce odors that can be detected by the neighbors, but it is for a shorter time period. The smell of amonia, ether, and solvents can all be tell-tale signs of a clandestine meth lab. I urge each of you to be involved in your community and keep an eye on your neighborhood. If you notice these odors in your neighborhood, please report them to the local police department. Your name can be kept confidential. When Law Enforcement get into the area and can pinpoint the building that the odors are coming from, they can at least knock on the door and find out where the odor is coming from.

Keep in mind that your police officers have rules that they have to operate by. This is not always a fast process and may involve a lengthy investigation. Be persistant and stay on top of the problem. Work with us and we will work with you.

Contact your State Legislators and ask them to pass laws restricting the sale of Psuedoephedrine. This is the one ingredient that is necessary to manufacture Methamphetamine. Without it, the local Meth Labs will not exist.

Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from everyone at the Warrick County Sheriff's Office. If your festivities include alcohol this holday season, please designate a driver that is not consuming alcohol. We do not want anyone's holiday to be spoiled by an arrest or a horrible crash.