Sixty law enforcement personnel, representing 13 different agencies, gathered in Altus Friday and Saturday. According to Altus Police Chief Tim Murphy, “Operation Swift Kick” was a combined effort by law enforcement to impact criminal activity in Altus and Jackson County by conducting high volume traffic stops for the enforcement of traffic violations, drug enforcement and criminal activity while utilizing K-9 units as a resource. This operation, which was a first of its kind operation in Altus and Jackson County, began on Friday at 6 p.m. and ended on Saturday at 6 p.m. Goals of this operation were planning, inter-agency cooperation, communications and to determine the volume and type of narcotics being transported into Altus and Jackson County. Murphy said, “‘Operation Swift Kick’ was definitely a success.”

Law enforcement, Chief Murphy said, worked extremely hard to rid our community of criminal activity this weekend. Listing the various types of criminal activity, the Police Chief said, “During this operation 322 warning citations were issued. Forty-five total arrests were made with eight custodial arrests. K-9s were utilized 52 times with a total of eight confirmed hits. Alcohol arrests resulted in two individuals for Driving under the Influence, one minor in possession and four traveling with an open container citations. The District III Drug Task Force began investigations on individuals for narcotic violations. Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms investigated a subject in possession of explosives, along with investigating individuals in possession of approximately 200 rounds of ammunition, an SKS assault rifle, a 12-gauge sawed off shotgun, a handgun and a .22 caliber rifle. These weapons were discovered after a K-9 alerted on their vehicle.”

Captain Johnny Freeman, Troop Commander of the OHP’s Troop M located in Altus, said of the operation, “While our efforts were focused in the area of traffic enforcement, the special emphasis proved to be an excellent opportunity to test our ability to plan a multi-agency operation requiring inter-agency cooperation, management and communication… Although Operation Swift Kick was designed around a traffic enforcement/criminal interdiction operation, the agency’s involved, as well as the coordination and communication efforts would be much the same for that of a natural disaster; so we’re very pleased with the outcome,” said Freeman.

Expressing his gratitude, Chief Murphy said, “It’s been a privilege to have worked with our partners in law enforcement from the local, state and federal levels in an attempt to impact the drug and criminal activity in Altus and Jackson County. I want to personally thank all the law enforcement personnel and the agencies they represent for participating in this operation and a special thanks to Lt. Tom Pogue and Trooper Chris Sherman of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol for the months of planning and organizing they did to make Operation Swift Kick a success. I’m certain that our citizens appreciate the effort that law enforcement accomplished this past weekend.”

Agencies involved in Operation Swift Kick were Altus Police Department, Oklahoma Highway Patrol Troop M, O.H.P. Special Operations, O.H.P. Size and Weights, O.H.P. Emergency Medical Services Unit, Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, District III Drug Task Force, Jackson County District Attorney’s office, Altus Air Force Base, Blair Police Department, Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, Altus and Jackson Emergency Managements.