New Registry to Help Families
Sheriff Tommy Ford is excited to introduce a project to Bay County that he has had staff working on for several months: a Special Needs Registry. The Registry is now online and ready for Bay County families with members who have special needs due to mental or neurological disabilities. It will be another tool for them to get effective help when they need it.
The Registry is designed to serve adults and juveniles of our community who have a special need such as autism, dementia, Alzheimer’s, or traumatic brain injury, and want to register with the Bay County Sheriff’s Office. A recent photo can also be uploaded to save precious time when these loved ones go missing.
To register, visit our website at www.bayso.org and click on the icon Special Needs Registry. You will see a form to fill out and submit. This information will be entered into our database so that should you need us to come to your home, BAYROC, our real-time crime center, will provide responding law enforcement the critical information they need to successfully interact and communicate with your loved one.
Without this prior knowledge, the deputy would lose precious time during a high stress situation determining the best strategy to help.
The Special Needs Registry is just one more way the Bay County Sheriff’s Office can serve you.
Common Scam Hits Bay County Again
A common scam is increasing in frequency in our area and the scammer is using familiar names to lend credibility to his fraud.
The scammer uses the phone to make contact with his intended victim, informing the victim they have missed jury duty and now have a warrant out for their arrest. The scammer has done their homework and is claiming to be a law enforcement officer with the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, using the names of real law enforcement officers at the BCSO. Scammers are “spoofing” the real number at the BCSO, making it look like the scam call came from the actual offices of the BCSO.
The victim, feeling anxiety, is offered a simple solution to the problem: pay a fee and there will be no embarrassing arrest. Just purchase green dot cards, or gift cards, at a store and give the scammer the code on the card so the scammer can get the money from the card, and, like magic, the warrant goes away.
But the message is a fraud. Magic is not real. There is no missed jury duty and no warrant. When the victim calms down and realizes what has happened, the money is gone, and the scammer is already on to another victim.
The Bay County Sheriff’s Office will NEVER call to inform someone they have a warrant. And the BCSO will NEVER offer anyone the chance to pay money by buying gift cards in lieu of arrest. If you receive this or any other scam call, simply hang up.
If you have been victimized, please contact us to report this crime at (850) 747-4700. You may feel embarrassed but be assured it is happening every day to many people. We will do what we can to help you. Please pass this information on to someone else. Information is power and only by education can scams be prevented.
