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Gem Lake News Page 3 of 6 Sheriff Spots Trends, Discusses New Programs Ramsey County Sheriff Matt Bostrom was a featured presenter at the Gem Lake City Council Meeting on November 19. Bostrom brought attendees up to date on several important programs being sponsored by the Sheriff's Department. On-line Warrant Services Recently, the Department launched an on-line warrant service. This is to handle individuals who want to check and see if there is a warrant out for their arrest and take steps to turn themselves in to get the matter cleared up. There is now a "Safe Surrender" program for people who want to get the problem settled without the drama of an arrest during a traffic stop or having an unexpected visit from the Sheriff's Department. These type of arrests are often extremely problematic, if, for instance, you have your children at home with no other caretaker available, or you have to have your car towed, says Bostrom. At any particular time there are up to 9,000 active warrants out in Ramsey County. The on-line service allows individuals to check on their status at any time day or night. It is especially helpful when a matter is in the process of being cleared up and a person wants to check and be sure the matter is completely settled. For more information on the "Safe Surrender" program go the Ramsey County Sheriff's Department website. At any one time, there are between 350-450 people included in the county's inmate population. Bostrom would prefer you are not one of them. Code Red Alerts Recently, the Sheriff's Department utilized their community alert system to let people in the northern part of the county know there was an elderly woman missing. You may remember the call, as it had to go out quite late at night. The system utilizes available land lines in a defined area to alert the community to an emergency situation. In this case, an elderly person had wandered away at night. As a result of the alert, a significant number of people helped quickly with a neighborhood search and the woman was found unharmed. This was a perfect example of how the system can be used successfully to quickly get results, said Bostrom, even though the call was instituted late in the evening. New Patrol Cars More and more of the police vehicles used in the country are going to a black and white model as they cycle new cars into their fleets. This is because the standard "black and white" is almost a catch phrase for a police car. It is more recognizable as a law enforcement vehicle. With this in mind, the Ramsey County Sheriff's Department is replacing older vehicles with the newer cars that are going to be painted black and white, instead of the current color scheme. (White and brown) Another consideration that lead to the change is sheer visibility, said Bostrom. Far more law enforcement officers in this country are injured or killed in traffic accidents that other altercations. The idea is that going to a black and white fleet will make the vehicles much more visible. Within about a year, all vehicles will be black and whites and will probably be almost all Ford Explorer or Ford Taurus models, each with all wheel drive. Prescription Drug Turn In Program Bostrom says there has been a spike in the use of Heroin in the area. One of the reasons is the epidemic in the use of prescription pain killers in this country. Once the prescription has run out, some people are turning to Heroin or to stealing prescription drugs from unsuspecting family or friends. In order to cut down on this, the Sheriff has instituted a Prescription Drug Turn In Program. This allows you to safely turn in prescription drugs you don't need in a manner that won't add to someone's addition problem or pollute the environment. You can drop your items off during business hours at the station located at Hamline Avenue and Highway 96 in Arden Hills. See the web-site for more information.