News from Your Sheriff-March 2024

Welcome to March 2024, Clare County. To say the least, this has been a very easy winter on my wood pile at home. Mother Nature sure controls our way of life, and it seems she is making it a little easier on us this winter.

From Jan. 1, 2024, through the end of February, the Clare County Central Dispatch logged 5,993 total incidents for the entire county. Your Clare County deputies handled 3,721 of those incidents. Other law enforcement, Clare City Police, Michigan State Police and Michigan DNR handled 1,550 incidents. Clare County Animal Control responded to 92 incidents. Clare County Fire Departments handled 226 calls. MMR Ambulance responded to 399 calls county wide. These numbers reflect that those agencies were the primary unit on an incident. There were 775 incidents that required multiple agencies to respond.

Our deputies and detectives have been busy clearing up several home invasions/breaking and entering’s throughout the county. A 36-year-old man was arrested in relation to 10 home invasions that occurred in the Bertha Lake area. A 28-year-old man was arrested in relation to five home invasions that were located in the north end of the county. On Feb. 27, a cabin owner called in from his home downstate, stating that he was watching a male in his cabin on camera, located on Little Long Lake. Deputies responded to that location. Upon arrival, two deputies took chase on foot after the suspect who was apprehended and lodged for the home invasion. I would encourage home and cabin owners to place cameras on the inside and outside of their residences. There are a lot of wireless brands out there today that can be set up to send alerts to your smart phones.

During this period, the Clare County Sheriff’s Office investigated a total of 33 home invasions/breaking and entering’s. Freeman had one, Garfield one, Grant two, Frost three, Greenwood six, Hamilton four, Hayes three, Lincoln 10, Redding one, Summerfield one, and Surrey one.

There are currently 93 people staying in the jail, which includes 57 locals and 36 federal renters. As of the end of February, we have brought in $495,067.43 in rental fees into the jail since Oct. 1, 2023. We had Correction Officer Lowe graduate from the 160 hours correctional academy at Delta College, who graduated at the top of his class. We have hired two new correction officers who are currently in training at the jail.

This month we will be sending Det./Sgt. Dave Aldrich to the Michigan Sheriffs’ Association Mission Team Investigation training in Lansing. The Michigan Sheriffs’ Association Mission Team is comprised of certified officers and certified correction officers throughout the state of Michigan. These trained investigators are used as an outside team to conduct internal investigations at sheriff offices throughout the state.

Reminder that the Clare Irish Festival will start the week of March 13-17. Come on out and enjoy all of the festivities in Clare. March 16 will be the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade which starts at high noon.

Like Always – GOD Bless

Sheriff John S Wilson