By Dana Lance, Media Relations Specialist
Chickasaw Nation Media Relations Office
Jason O'Neal, Chickasaw Nation Lighthorse Police Chief, was recognized for his pioneering work in cooperative law enforcement as he was awarded Chief of Police of the Year.
O'Neal received the award Oct. 8 at the national conference of the National Native American Law Enforcement Association (NNALEA) in Las Vegas.
Cooperation between American Indian Law Enforcement offices, agents, personnel, their agencies, tribes, private industry and the general public is the mission of the NNALEA, and O'Neal and the Lighthorse Police Department work toward this goal on a daily basis.
"Cooperative law enforcement has been our focus," O'Neal said.
O'Neal, 32, has served at the helm of the Lighthorse Police Department since the department was established in 2004. He has spearheaded cross-deputation efforts throughout the state and nation, including inking a cross deputation agreement in 2007 with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN). This agreement is the first of its kind between an American Indian police department and a state law enforcement agency.
"There is probably no police agency in the state of Oklahoma, bar none, that is better run than this group of Lighthorse policemen," OBN Director R. Darrell Weaver, said.
Under O'Neal's leadership, Lighthorse Police has also signed agreements with more than 30 city, county and state agencies. Several officers are also commissioned as federal officers.
The goal of these agreements is to eliminate jurisdictional uncertainties which can benefit criminals.
"Thanks to Chief O'Neal's vision and tireless work, the Lighthorse Police Department is one of the most respected and proactive law enforcement agencies in the state," said Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby. "We appreciate Jason's efforts and congratulate him on the prestigious award."
Under O'Neal's direction, the department currently has 31 employees, including 16 uniformed officers, five dispatchers, four investigators, two sergeants, a captain, an administrative assistant and an assistant chief.
"It is certainly an honor I was not expecting," Chief O'Neal said of the award.
"The position of Police Chief is one I take as a personal responsibility to ensure the protection of our families and communities. By bringing together our law enforcement agencies and community leaders we ready ourselves for the next generation of policing and public safety. To receive this incredible award has been a very humbling experience."
During his law enforcement career, O'Neal has served as a Military Police Canine Handler in the United States Marine Corps and spent six years with the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs office of law enforcement services in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona and Oklahoma as a federal police officer and police supervisor.
During the past 13 years, O'Neal has received advanced training in a wide-range of areas, from hostage situation to hate crime training to national wildfire investigation training.
He is a member of the Citizen Pottawatomie tribe, and also a member of the Oklahoma District Attorney's Council-Violence Against Women Grant Board, the National Native American Law Enforcement Association, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Oklahoma Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Oklahoma Sheriff's and Peace Officer's Association, and he is an Oklahoma gubernatorial appointee to the state's Council on Law Enforcement Education.
He and his wife reside in Ada and are parents of four children; two boys and two girls.
Lighthorse Police Department initially assumed the role of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) police department, which, at the time, consisted of four officers who covered more than 7,648 square miles within the Chickasaw Nation.
Lighthorse Police Headquarters is located at 1130 West Main in Ada.
More information is available about Lighthorse Police at http://www.chickasaw.net/.
The National Native American Law Enforcement Association is a non-profit organization founded in 1993 in Washington, D.C. and incorporated under the state of Delaware.
