Wichita County Sheriff David Duke told a packed crowd at the Wichita Falls, Texas University Kiwanis Club weekly luncheon today that more criminals were being sent to prison for longer sentences than ever before. Sheriff Duke attributes the longer sentences to Maureen Shelton District Attorney for Wichita County. Prison sentences have markedly increased since she took office in January 2011.
Duke, who started his career as a jailer with the Sheriff's office approximately 30 years ago, said, "More criminals are being sent to prison than ever before under the leadership of DA Maureen Shelton."
He also said he was proud of the co-operation between the District Attorney's Office Drug Enforcement Division and sheriff's deputies during Operation Powderburn which was the largest roundup of drug traffickers in 30 years in Wichita County.
Duke also lauded the District Attorney's Office drug interdiction efforts on the major highways which criscross Wichita County saying drugs all the way from Chihuahua, Mexico have filtered their way through and into Wichita County.
This effort has reduced the flow of these drugs through Wichita County. He inferred the drug interdiction program was an effective deterrent to the flow of drugs from Mexico over the highways which cross Wichita County.
,Sheriff Duke also discussed the fact he is responsible for managing the Wichita County Jail.
"I've gotten all kind of complaints from the inmates. One of the prisoners complained to me about the quality of the toilet paper in the jail. I told him they had the same quality as the toilet tissue in my office. I even sent him some of the supply from my office so he could see our toilet paper wasn't any better than his," the sheriff said.
Duke also referred to the emphasis he has placed on patrolling areas inside the boundaries of the Wichita Falls city limits as well as outside the city limits.
"When we first started doing that some people asked me what we were doing working cases inside Wichita Falls. Well, I told them the people inside the city limits pay county taxes just like the people outside the city limits do. We want to protect the citizens of the city of Wichita Falls just like we do those in Pumpkin Center, Electra and everywhere else throughout the county."
Doug James, a banker who is a member of the University Kiwanis Club, said he was glad of the increased presence of deputies inside the city limits of Wichita Falls.
"I've been very glad to see that trend," James said. "I really don't think we can get too much law enforcement."
Duke said he often tells people that he protects the border as sheriff of Wichita County.
When people seem puzzled by this, he tells them since "we're on the border with Oklahoma I'm responsible for trying to keep the Okies out of Texas. And that's a difficult job." There was a jovial response from the University Kiwansis memebers to this remark Duke made in good humor.
Although Duke had to win a fiercely fought election four years ago to win his first term as Sheriff, no one has filed to run against him in this year's election.
Duke was promoted from jailer to patrol and later to detectives during his climb up the ladder over 30 years in the Sheriff's Office.
He garnered valuable experience as an arson investigator and became a specialist in that field.
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