Rogers County Sheriff's Office Search & Rescue Team Conducts Training

The Rogers County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue Team trains several times a year so they're prepared to help with rescue missions. 

They held a training Tuesday where they pretended to search for a man with dementia who walked away from a church. 

"I've always admired what they do to use the horses as a tool to help find people and to assist in search and rescues,” said Rogers County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Team Member, Sarah Smith. 

Sarah Smith and her 26-year-old horse, Bill, just joined the Search and Rescue Team in May. 

Smith has done several training missions with the team and even helped run the command post this past weekend as several agencies searched for two escaped inmates from Okmulgee County. 

"It felt good to be able to be there helping all the other agencies that were there. It was pretty impressive, the team effort and everything that was involved in capturing those two," said Smith. 

Sarah grew up in Chelsea and says she never saw herself doing something like this, but she loves horses. 

Her horse, Bill, is a retired barrel horse who now has a new mission in life. 

"He is eager to work, he loves going out, he's like a dog playing fetch at a scavenger hunt,” said Smith. 

Sarah and Bill helped the Search and Rescue Team as they pretended to search for a man with dementia who had wandered away. 

In addition to horses, team Members used ATVs, K9s, and even a drone to search for clues and called them back into the command post. 

"We're checking the feasibility of all these assets and it's a good dry run for us," said Rogers County Sheriff’s Major Coy Jenkins. 

The Rogers County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue team trains in different conditions, like rain and snow and even wind. 

Now because it's getting darker earlier, they're also training at night. 

"We've trained in rain and snow but we've never had an incident where we have this much wind," said Major Jenkins. “We never know what we are going to run into and that's why we do this training to prepare ourselves.” 

Major Coy Jenkins says it's also important to have training so the team can learn how to work together. 

The team is made up of 45 people and some are commissioned deputies, but others are non-commissioned auxiliary team members.        

Major Jenkins says everyone on the team is volunteering their time and resources to help the county. 

"Anytime our officers see a need for extra boots on the ground they'll call us because of the resources we can bring in 30 minutes," said Major Jenkins. 

Individuals must be 18 or older without a criminal record to join.       

Major Jenkins says they also try to see what different types of training and tools each member can bring to the table. 

For more information, contact the Rogers County Sheriff’s Office: https://www.rcsheriff.org/