events

We have used the recent unexpected website outage to make some software upgrades and changes. Some of these changes are aimed at differentiating how we use this site versus how we are using social media like Facebook. Our intention is to use the main web site for permanent things, file downloads, policies, and in-depth articles, all tagged and searchable. Facebook will be used for events, short news items, and other temporary listings.

This week the Sheriff's Auxiliary is scrambling to make last minute preparations for our Apple Butter Makin' Days deployment. Apple Butter Makin' Days is Lawrence County's largest annual festival, held in Mount Vernon with attendance of approximately 25,000 people. Although the festival is exciting and a big draw for the city, it places a huge burden on emergency planners which could not be met without the help of many volunteers. This year the LCSA is deploying under the Mount Vernon Police to assist in parade and night security patrols during the festival weekend, resulting in long hours on graveyard shifts.

The Sheriff's Auxilary will be providing a tutorial session at the upcoming USAPrepares expo in Lebannon, Missouri  (6-7 April) on how to start a county Sheriff's auxiliary. This will be a nuts and bolts presentation on the type of paperwork needed, staffing requirements, how long you can expect it to take, how to write the mission statement and so forth, with access to additional resources.

Now that the deployment drill has been completed, it is time to go through the after-exercise process. Since this is the first time our organization is going through this, we will be setting up templates and checklists to make the next process easier. We are following the Homeland Security Exercise Evaluation Process (HSEEP) which is based to a large degree on the DoD process which has been in use for a long time.

This month, the Lawrence County Sheriff's Auxiliary will have its first field deployment exercise, Operation Earwax, timed to coincide with the National Amateur Radio (Ham) Field Day. The purpose of the exercise will be group training and operational test of field equipment (communications, power, etc).