A MESSAGE FROM DANIEL BROWNFIELD
As of the latter part of September, 2000 I am no longer Chief of the Arapaho Police Department. I struggled with the idea of leaving for a long time before coming to this decision. I love the Town of Arapaho, but I am not a politician. I am a law enforcement officer, sworn to stop people that are breaking the law, no matter what their family name might be or how long they have resided in the area. Wrong is wrong. Period. This point of view, and my unwillingness to compromise my position led to a great deal of tension between myself and the Town Board.
I might note here that the Mayor of the Board held my position as Chief for many years. When the department was disbanded, then re-formed by a former Town Board, my predecessor was not re-hired. Wanting a change from what they had the Board instead chose to hire me, and I filled that position for almost 5 years. Then election time came around and my predecessor was elected to the Town Board. Since it is only a three man board, the man found an ally on the Board to nominate him. He seconded his OWN nomination, and found himself seated as Mayor. Good, bad, or indifferent, when you suddenly find yourself under the thumb of the man whose position you took, things become difficult.
So with a heavy heart I decided to resign my position with the Town of Arapaho. I have been offered acouple of other jobs in law enforcement already, but they entail moving my family to another town. We like it here, however, and intend to stay. I am currently a reserve officer with another Municipal department.
I have left most of this site untouched as it reflects what I have been doing these past few years. Although it is not an official Arapaho Police Department website any longer, it is still very much a part of what I am..... I hope you understand...
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Arapaho is located about 90 miles west of Oklahoma City on Interstate 40, then 4 miles north of Clinton, Oklahoma. Chief Brownfield was here for just over 4 1/2 years. Arapaho is a town of about 1,000 people, and is the county seat for Custer County.
Arapaho Police Department consisted of Chief Brownfield and an occasional reserve officer. We depend a whole lot on the welcome back-up from the county Deputies.
The situation here is different than a lot of cops are used to. Back-up is usually about 10 minutes away, unless the situation happens during regular business hours...and when does THAT happen? We are dispatched through Custer County Sheriff's office also, and they have a superb group of people manning the radio! We have no secretary or clerks, the paperwork is all left up to the officer and Chief to do.
There are a lot of one man departments in rural Oklahoma, especially in our area. All of the departments rally for each other in times of crisis, in a kind of cooperative effort.
Chief Brownfield is a staunch supporter of the D.A.R.E. program, and is a D.A.R.E. instructor. The D.A.R.E. program here consists of about 60 kids. Along with the Chief's regular duties, it keeps him pretty busy. Again the Sheriff's office has agreed to cover things while the Chief teaches. Without Sheriff Mike Burgess' support of the program, it would not be possible. We feel D.A.R.E. does have long lasting effect on the children of our community, if nothing more than letting them see that the local cop is a "Regular Joe".
D.A.R.E.
Drug Abuse Resistance Education
The Chief's duties vary greatly. One moment he may be involved in a felony investigation, then have to run out and do traffic control for a Bike-a-thon at the school. There is no way to set a shift to work; the Chief is on duty, or at least on call, anytime he is in town. And EVERYBODY in town knows where the Chief lives!!! So the Chief has the duties of a regular patrolman, a D.A.R.E. instructor, and an administrator. He probably gets paid less than most starting patrolmen around the country, but he says he wouldn't trade small town living as a cop for anything in the world!
The "company car"
Get to know the Chief
Our Favorite Links
D.A.R.E. graduates of Arapaho and Butler, what a great group of kids!
StreetCops: Possibly the finest police page on the net!
Custer County Sheriff's Office - Our Local Sheriff.
The Police Officer's Internet Directory
See what Oklahoma weather is doing.
Listen to some of the country's biggest departments in action on a scanner!
COPS on the net, a terrific Law Enforcement directory!
Laverne Police Department, one outstanding website!
OUR AWARDS
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OUR SHOULDER PATCH INFO
We have had many requests to trade or even sell our shoulder patch. While our patches are unique, we cannot trade them with other departments or indiviuals. We are sorry for this, but budget constraints dictate policy in this matter.
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