Sheriff's Office receives life saving gift

Earlier this month, members of the Clinton Police Department presented the Bates County Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team with a Baker Ballistic Rifle Shield. The Shield was purchased from fundraisers for safety equipment for Law Enforcement. The Baker Shield is built to protect the SERT Team from potential gun fire to include rifle rounds. The members of Clinton Police Department presented the Shield as part of a “Thank You” for the SERT Team’s response to the call for assistance from the Clinton Police Department on March 6, 2018 when multiple officers were shot. The Bates County SERT Team arrived on scene and entered the residence to perform a downed officer rescue for Officer Morton. Since then the Bates County SERT Team has assisted Clinton Police Department on several occasions to assist in special operations. The Shield was presented to help the SERT Team to perform tactical operations while assisting Clinton Police Department and any agency in the region should they request assistance of our Tactical Team.

On June 21st of 2018, at an awards banquet, the Bates County SERT Team members were each presented with Medal of Valor for their bravery and courage during the Clinton Tragedy. The team was also presented with Proclamations from the County and State Representative Patricia Pike.

“Building a relationship with our neighboring agencies is important when you are in a rural area and have a small agency. We have to rely on each other, to keep each other safe, to keep our communities safe and to be my brother’s keeper.” Sheriff Anderson said “this shield will help keep our Deputies safe and add to the area another tool to be deployed to combat the evil in the world”

"It is impossible to express our gratitude to the Bates County Sheriff's Office for the spirit of cooperation and kinship between our two agencies. I recently had a conversation with Sheriff Anderson about a Memorandum of Understanding (a letter that spells out how two different jurisdictions are allowed to work together and share resources). Without even blinking, he told me that the only thing I needed to write in the letter was "You call, we come!" I think that fairly well summarizes the relationship between the Clinton Police Department and the Bates County Sheriff's Office."
- Captain Paul Abbott, Deputy Chief of Operations, Clinton P.D.