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Saline County Sheriff Phil Mask
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Biography
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I. Phil Mask elected as Saline County Sheriff in 2000 and Re-elected in 2002 and 2004 When elected Sheriff in 2000, Sheriff Mask implemented major changes in the Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Mask obtained grants and purchased bullet resistant vests for the deputies, audio and video equipment for the patrol cars, “Officer Down” remote buttons for all Detention Facility personnel, a breathing apparatus for the Detention Facility, $50,000 for DWI and Seat Belt Enforcement and, with the financial assistance of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Association, he purchased fifty-four 40 caliber Glock pistols for each full and part-time deputy. Sheriff Mask also reinstated the 309 Inmate Program. Sheriff Mask opened the East End Substation which is funded solely by private donations and he staffed the Substation with part-time and reserve deputies who dedicate themselves to community orientated policing in the East End area of Saline County. Sheriff Mask also created the Saline County Search & Rescue Team consisting of several full-time deputies and a large group of volunteers. The Search & Rescue Team has horses, four-wheelers, motorcycles, boats, dive equipment, and search dogs. The Search & Rescue Team searches for missing persons such as children, lost hunters and hikers, and individuals who have walked away from nursing homes and mental health facilities. The Search and Rescue Team now uses Project Lifesaver where elderly and young people with mental disorders are given wristbands with a radio beacon. When they turn up missing, the Search and Rescue Team can find them usually within thirty minutes using a handheld radio tracking system. Sheriff Mask created a Deputy of the Month and Deputy of the Year program where he awards Sheriff’s Office personnel, both deputies and office staff, for outstanding performance and dedication. The Deputy of the Month receives a plaque, certificate, and $50.00 to take his/her spouse out to dinner. The Deputy of the Year receives a plaque, certificate, $100.00 to take his/her spouse out to dinner, and a paid day-off. Sheriff Mask also adopted an updated policy and procedure manual and a progressive discipline system. Sheriff Mask instituted mandatory supervisor training for first-line supervisors and mandatory training classes for the deputies such as domestic abuse and aggressive patrol tactics classes. Sheriff Mask also obtained shotguns through the Department of Defense and rifles with the assistance of the local Moose Lodge. Sheriff Mask also produced a video titled “Meth in Saline County” and a brochure titled “Methamphetamine Awareness Guide” to educate the public on the common chemicals and equipment used to make meth and to show the destructive effect meth has on a person. Sheriff Mask also testified before a Congressional Subcommittee on meth issues. During Sheriff Mask’s tenure, over 270 children have been removed from the homes of meth cooks. Sheriff Mask brought the war on meth to the streets of Saline County by building and training a Narcotics Unit that has busted meth labs throughout the county. Since new state laws put pseudoephedrine behind the counters of pharmacies thereby making it harder to cook meth, meth dealers are bringing “ice” methamphetamine into Saline County from Mexico. Sheriff Mask now uses money seized by asset forfeiture from drug and money seizures to pay deputies overtime to aggressively patrol the roads to find and seize the “ice” methamphetamine. Sheriff Mask made the Saline County Sheriff’s Reserves more effective by giving them more patrol cars to use. This increased participation by the volunteer deputies thereby increasing patrols in the county. Sheriff Mask started the Emergency Beacon Program. An emergency beacon is a light that blinks on and off allowing emergency personnel to automatically identify a house as the source of an emergency call. Sheriff Mask has handed out over 1200 emergency beacons. Sheriff Mask also instituted approximately 22 crime watch programs in communities throughout Saline County.
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II. Sheriff Mask brings the Sheriff’s Office into the Twenty-First Century When Sheriff Mask walked into the Sheriff’s Office on January 1, 2001, there were only a few computers in the whole agency. Now, almost every employee has a computer with up-to-date software. All of the computers are networked under one server and every computer has DSL access. This year, Sheriff Mask worked with the Quorum Court to purchase twenty-five 2005 Police Interceptor Crown Victoria police cars. These cars came with the most advanced emergency lighting equipment, new radios, spike strips, and portable breath test machines. Sheriff Mask then used funds from his own radio communication fund to purchase a computer, digital camera equipment, touch-screen monitor, and GPS system for each new patrol car. The patrol deputies can type all incident and accident reports in their patrol cars and download the reports at the Sheriff’s Office. Through Sheriff Mask’s past association with Appriss, the software company that created the Victim Identification Notification Everyday (VINE) system for the Dept. of Corrections, the Saline County Sheriff’s Office was chosen to become the pilot program for a new system called AlertXpress. AlertXpress is a computer program that instantly notifies victims of domestic violence by phone, fax, and e-mail when a protective order is served. The Saline County Sheriff’s Office will be the first law enforcement agency in the country to use this program. Since AlertXpress provides the Sheriff’s Office with the ability to create and deliver large-scale notifications to people and businesses immediately, utilizing telephone, fax, or e-mail, Sheriff Mask will expand the program to notify local pharmacies of fake prescriptions, local businesses of identity theft and bad checks, and neighborhood residents when a sex offender moves in. This program will truly bring Saline County into the twentieth century.
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III. Sheriff Mask’s Experience Before he was elected Saline County Sheriff in 2000, Sheriff Mask served twenty years in the North Little Rock Police Department. Sheriff Mask served in the following positions: Patrol Shift Supervisor, Criminal Investigator, Warrant Officer, Street Crimes Investigator, Patrol Officer, DWI Enforcement, and Field Training Officer.Sheriff Mask served as the Administrative Unit Supervisor and the Training Unit Coordinator. He retired with the rank of lieutenant.Before his service with the North Little Rock Police Department, Sheriff Mask was a Supervisor of Emergency Medical Technicians for Medic-Vac Ambulance and was a Hospital Corpsman in the United States Navy.
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III. Sheriff Mask’s Education
While working full-time at the North Little Rock Police Department, taking care of his family, and working several off-duty jobs, Sheriff Mask attended the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and received a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice and an Associates Degree in Law Enforcement. When it comes to law enforcement training, Sheriff Mask’s training school attendance sheet is longer than anyone at the Sheriff’s Office. He has over 2500 hours of law enforcement training. Sheriff Mask is a certified Law Enforcement Instructor, has a Senior Law Enforcement Certificate, and attended the following schools: Multi-Agency Incident Command School, Criminal Justice Institute School of Law Enforcement Supervision, Sheriff’s Executive 40-hour Course at the Law Enforcement Academy, Rural Executive Management 40-hour Course, and Arkansas Leader 40-hour Course. Sheriff Mask also attended the prestigious National Sheriff’s Institute 80-hour Executive Level Management Education and Training Course in Boulder, Colorado.
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IV. Membership
Sheriff Mask is a member of the Nation Sheriff’s Association and serves on the following committees: Drug Enforcement, Domestic Violence, and Weapons of Mass Destruction. Sheriff Mask is classified by the National Sheriff’s Association as an expert in domestic violence issues and has served on an expert panel at the National Sheriff’s Association Conference. Sheriff Mask is also a member of the Arkansas Sheriff’s Association, National Rifle Association, John E. Charles FOP Lodge #5, Veterans of Foreign War Post #2256, Alumnia Masonic Lodge, Loyal Order of the Moose, American Legion Post #1000, Benton Chamber of Commerce, Bryant Chamber of Commerce, and the International Association of Court Officers & Services.
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V. Awards
Sheriff Mask was voted the Benton Courier Readers’ Choice “Man of the Year” in 2005. In 2001, Sheriff Mask was voted the Benton Courier Readers’ Choice “The Best Law Enforcement Officer.” Sheriff Mask is also listed in the National Register Who’s Who in Executives and Professionals and was nominated for “The Farris Lucas National Sheriff of the Year.”
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VI. Family Sheriff Mask is the son of former Baptist minister Corbett Mask and his wife, Viola. Sheriff Mask and his wife, Patty, have one son, Christopher, and one daughter, Tiffaney, and one granddaughter, Hanna.
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