Howell County, MO. – The Howell County Sheriff’s Office recently informed the public about their plan to task organize the Sheriff’s Office efforts in standing up the “Public Land Heritage Preservation” unit.
Howell County has vast amounts of State and Federal Public lands with limited law enforcement presence, meaning there is an opportunity for criminal activity. This includes illegal dumping, vandalism, drug manufacturing, marijuana cultivating, personal offenses, and property offenses. This criminal activity poses a safety concern for people who use these lands for their designated purpose.
For this reason, in collaboration with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and State and Federal entities, Sheriff Campbell is seeking to provide a task-oriented unit to work in these areas. Sheriff Campbell’s initiative is to cost share with the State and Federal entities to recruit two Deputies specifically for this unit. The task of these deputies would be to work in the jurisdiction of Howell County and as a mutual aid to the Douglas County Sheriff to focus solely on criminal activity. They will coordinate efforts with the Patrol Division to restrict the movement of criminal activity between zones and public lands, closely liaison incidents with specialized State and Federal enforcement authorities, coordinate community service cleanup efforts with local courts and other jurisdictional authorities, and educate the community on Public land Heritage through outreach programs.
