Volunteer retires from Ponca City Police Department

Glea Means is retiring from being an Extra Eyes volunteer with the Ponca City Police Department after more than  15 years as a volunteer.

He is one of two that volunteer time specifically using the AFIX Tracker. The AFIX software and computer was purchased in 2003 and has never had a paid employee assigned to the program. Glea Means and Ford Lasher both attended a training program in 2003 hosted by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and have been classifying and comparing fingerprints lifted by officers at crime scenes to those that have been scanned into the department’s data base from the local jail.

Surrounding law enforcement agencies have taken advantage of their expertise as well.

Means worked for the FBI, in the fingerprint division, before he began his career and eventual retirement from Conoco. He went through the Citizen’s Police Academy and began volunteering after going through the Extra Eyes program. Means is at the Police Department every weekday morning and has been for the overwhelming majority of his time there.

Not only has he worked inside, but Means has been available for ‘call outs’ to assist in the securing of the perimeter at crime scenes, has assisted in most child print events and parades during that time.

“Glea Means has been a prime example of a dedicated volunteer. For 15 plus years he has given thousands of hours to the Ponca City Police Department and in turn the citizens of Ponca City. We are losing a very valuable person and he will be greatly missed,” said Police Chief Don Bohon.

Corporal Josh Henderson is the Extra Eyes Volunteer liaison to the Police Department and echoed Chief Bohon’s comments and recognized Glea’s commitment to the department.

Means and his wife Vicki are moving to Texas to join their children.