Donation made to sheriff’s office

A represenative of the Reserve Police Officers Association based in New York visited Shawnee recently to donate equipment to the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office and provide a monetary donation to the families of two deputies killed in a traffic accident.

Reserve Deputies Tim Lowry, 56, and Mike Roberts, 45, were killed Sept. 30 in an accident with a tractor-trailer rig east of Asher. The veteran deputies, both Konawa residents, were on duty and working to serve arrest warrants as part of the reserve warrant team when they were killed.

Both Roberts and Lowry are remembered as dedicated reserve deputies who volunteered their time doing a job they loved.
Erick Hoffman, treasurer of the Reserve Police Officers Association, said the nonprofit organization began in 1996. They work to make donations to law enforcement entities, to families of officers killed or assist officers who have been injured in the line of duty.

Equipment donated to the Pottawatomie County sheriff’s reserve program included flashlights and traffic visibility equipment, he said, and a product to help clot blood if someone is injured.

Pottawatomie County Sheriff Mike Booth said the equipment is much-needed for the reserve deputies as most of them fund equipment out of their own pockets. The traffic visibility equipment, with LED lights, will be useful for checkpoints, he said, as well as the flashlights.

In addition, Hoffman presented a $250 check to the families of both deputies to help them with expenses.

“It makes the organization members feel great — there’s a need out there, particularly with the economy,” Hoffman said, “and we’re here to help.”

Booth thanked the association for the law enforcement items and said they are much appreciated and should be useful for the reserve warrants team in which Lowry and Roberts served.