Today marks 13 years that Steve Prator has been the head of the Caddo Sheriff's Office. And he says a lot has been accomplished during that time.

"We have an extremely professional law enforcement agency. I think it's the premiere law enforcement agency anywhere around," Prator says. "We know that crime has come down significantly each and every of the 13 years. We know that the deputies have been paid more each year of the 13 years."

Prator says there are also more volunteers than ever before and fewer prisoners in the jail because of the way the office is working the system, which is saving taxpayers money. He says there has been a whole array of improvements in equipment and personnel. "It was a good sheriff's office to start with, I never said it wasn't," Prator tells KEEL News. "So it was a good one, and we just made it an excellent one."

But like everywhere else, the department has seen its share of challenges, too. One of those is competition in getting those people who want to be in law enforcement. Another is federal funding. "We almost dried up all funds from the federal government, so there's no grant money there," he says. "So we've had to find other sources of revenue or cut expenses, which are the two things we've been able to do."

And he says there are even more improvements to come, in everything from communications systems to personnel. But he's declined to give us any specifics, because there are so many. "There are a lot of things that we're working on doing better and less expensive. That's our goal, is to leave this place better than we found it," Prator says. And he adds, "The job is not to get me re-elected, it's to do what's right."

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