Williamson County Sheriff Adds Santa Watch Patrols

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TEXAS — Deputies with the sheriff's office have been assigned to strategic locations in the area to report sightings of Santa Claus as he arrives over North America.

In a message provided via Twitter, Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody said his office would provide updates on Santa's arrival to distribute toys on Christmas Day. The reason for the bolstered patrol is to provide an accurate mapping of Santa's route this year for children and their parents.

Chody described the mission to track Santa as "classified." The deputies assigned to the strategic county locations to track Santa learn of their assignments shortly before guarding their posts, he said. "This is very serious," Chody said. "I don't take Christmas lightly, and we have only one chance to get it right. Tracking Santa is no easy task. We can predict what we think is going to occur based on last year's results and last year's routes. But we know Santa is not having that, and we can't fool him."

Chody said he has tasked his deputies on special Santa assignment to report back to him immediately upon seeing anything that could signal the arrival of the jolly old elf:

"Here's what their instructions are: You tell me if you hear any 'ho hos' from Santa Claus yelling, if you hear any reindeer jingle bells; if you see a red glow, a red suit, a white beard. Anything related to Christmas that potentially could be Santa or was what he call his 'recon' elements. Sometimes Santa will come early just to see what's going on, to see if boys are girls are in bed like they should be."

The sheriff said he would issue posts updating on Santa's path as he enters Williamson County. But the sheriff said he, too, will go to bed after confirming Santa is on his way as he urged boys and girls living in Williamson County to do as well. That way, gifts can be opened on Christmas Day.

At last check about two hours ago at around 10 a.m., Santa was reportedly delivering toys in Asia. Stay tuned for further updates on the arrival of Santa in Williamson County.

Chody's regional efforts at tracking Santa complement the national NORAD initiative that follows his path on a broader basis. At last check, NORAD reported that Santa was headed to Mogadishu, Somalia at around 12:30 p.m. For updates on Santa's Christmas Eve travels, call 1-877-HI-NORAD.

While the latter focuses on continents over which Santa is spotted, Chody's efforts are at ground level to the geographical specifics of the county. The sheriff promised further updates as the evening progresses before going to bed himself to ensure arrival of his own gifts. Check back to this page for further updates.

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