Pawnee County Sheriff’s Office Gets Equipment Upgrade: ‘It’s Night And Day’

The Pawnee County Sheriff’s Office is coming into this century with new equipment. The new sheriff, Darrin Varnell, has made a lot of upgrades in his four months in office.

New sheriff's office vehicles are one of many changes in Pawnee County, and the sheriff said this is just the start.

Varnell promised to hit the ground running after taking office a few months ago. He's worked in the sheriff’s office in the past as a dispatcher, deputy, and major and said things were very neglected.

"We've been able to upgrade a lot of equipment at zero taxpayer dollars," said Varnell. 

Varnell said he operates on a small budget and has been asking other law enforcement agencies for help.

He has new dispatch consoles from Payne County and nine new radio systems that allow deputies to hear different radio frequencies at the same time, courtesy of the Department of Public Safety.

"The mapping systems will help us to keep an eye on not only our agents but other departments," said Varnell.

Employees have these uniforms from Tulsa County, and he also just got 22 laptops from Sand Springs police to put in the patrol cars.

"It will allow them to run a tag, driver's license," said Varnell, "To free up time for dispatchers."

He's also re-doing the jail floors and he's added five new vehicles from the federal CARES Act money with more on the way.

Varnell said he wants his office to feel more like a family and wants to make sure his staff has all the equipment they need to do their jobs.

"We've got an excellent team, doing everything they can to do what needs to be done," Varnell said.

Dispatcher Peyton Perea loves the changes.

"It's night and day,” Perea said. “Everyone enjoys coming to work now, our new administration is amazing.”

Varnell is working on increasing their budget and getting more grants but in the meantime, he's calling agencies constantly to see what equipment they might be willing to share with Pawnee County.