Rogers County Sheriff Supplies Law Enforcement With Ballistic Shields Through Nonprofit

The Rogers County Sheriff’s Office now has ballistic shields in every single patrol car.

The department was awarded a $50,000 grant from the Cherokee Nation to buy more than 40 shields. The Rogers County Sheriff is making sure other departments are equipped, too, through his nonprofit.

Sheriff Scott Walton has made it his mission to get ballistic shields in the hands of law enforcement officers across the state and Country, so he started the nonprofit Stand First and, so far, has been able to provide 50 shields. He says they are vital to keeping officers and the community safe.

Walton's top priority is protecting people in Rogers County, but he's also helping keep other communities safe.

"Collinsville, Skiatook, Haskell County Sheriff's Office, Stigler, the town of Sperry,” said Walton.

Those are just a few of the places Walton's Stand First Foundation has been able to help by providing ballistic shields to law enforcement and schools.

"School shootings, active shooter situations, everything, the first piece of equipment that comes to mind is a ballistic shield,” said Walton.

The grant money helped Walton buy shields for his entire department, but community donations helped him put shields in the hands of outside agencies.

"Any time a patrol car shows up, we know there's a shield there because all too often, still hearing it, we heard it at the Saint Francis shooting that somebody is waiting on a shield. In the wrong situation, that can be the cost of lives,” said Walton.

Trey Lambert owns Perfect Turf and wanted to help, so after he and his brother Cole spent two days putting up a Christmas tree in Claremore, they took the profit from that job and gave it to Stand First.

"It kind of lined up with my values of supporting locals, supporting law enforcement. I've got a family full of teachers,” said Lambert. "It's an extra act to protect our families and the community; it is something you can do."

Walton says donations go straight to buying shields, that’s it.

"This is to help law enforcement; this is to help save lives. The need for these is not going to lessen,” said Walton.

If you’d like to donate, you can go to Stand1st.org.