Bombs, God part of Edmond sergeant's life

EDMOND — Growing up, Scott Fees thought he would follow his father’s footsteps by serving in the Army.

His father, Don Fees, was a captain who served in Vietnam from 1968-69, conducting convoy protection duties.

However, his father began his career in civilian law enforcement when Scott was a sophomore in high school, and that had more of an impact and re-directed Scott’s path.

“I knew I would serve in uniform, but up to that point, I didn’t know which uniform it would be,” Fees said.

That decision was finalized one night in December 1977, when Fees’ father was a police officer in the small panhandle town of Beaver.

County Undersheriff Kenny Miller and a friend of his were murdered while conducting a motorist assist on a rural county road. The stranded motorists were two escaped prisoners out of Wagoner County.

After the murders, the drivers transporting the bodies to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Oklahoma City stopped by the Fees’ home to get some coffee before they left.

“I saw the bodies inside the ambulance and knew right then that I was going to be a cop,” Fees said.

Miller’s name is displayed on the National Law Enforcement Memorial wall in Washington, D.C., and Fees has a rubbing of Miller’s name framed on his desk at work.

Family values

Fees’ father is a retired Army major. His mother, Faun, is retired from the Hertz corporate headquarters in Oklahoma City.

While Fees followed in his father’s footsteps, he said he values both of his parents. They taught him to be straight-forward, honest and direct and to not be afraid to think “outside the box” and to look at things from a different perspective.

“The thing about honesty is you never have to remember what you said,” Fees said. “And looking at things from a different perspective can often improve the way things are done.”

Road to Edmond

Growing up a military brat, Fees followed his father’s career to Fort Hood, Texas, Fort Gordon, Georgia, and other stops in Missouri and Nebraska.

He said his mother is probably the toughest of all of them because she endured his father’s tour in Vietnam, his younger brother’s tours in the Gulf War and deployments in Bosnia and Kosovo, and himself and his brother, Rusty, having full careers in civilian law enforcement.

Fees went to college, intending to be a police officer, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice from Northwestern Oklahoma State University.

His first law enforcement job came when he was age 18, serving as a jailer for the Woods County Sheriff’s Office in Alva. An Alva police officer encouraged him to get a job with the local police department.

Fees said he came to Edmond to work for the Police Department. His older brother, Rusty, was an officer with the EPD at the time, and Scott went on several ride-alongs with his sibling.

Fees also befriended some of the other officers through his brother, who is now retired. They included Steve Thompson, the current assistant police chief, who was a narcotics officer back then.

They and others encouraged Fees to come work for the EPD. Fees said the EPD also offered more for an aspiring officer, including motorcycle officers, which drew his attention toward Edmond.

Fees’ EPD résumé includes achieving the rank of sergeant, becoming a certified bomb technician, serving on the Bomb Squad for 22 years, serving as commander of the Bomb Squad, being a motorcycle cop for 13 years and serving eight years on the EPD’s tactical unit.

He also responded to the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City and he supervises a newly formed peer support unit — the OASIS program — to provide assistance to officers in critical incidents, such as officer-involved shootings.

Police Capt. Tim Dorsey, Fees’ supervisor, said Fees is an extremely dedicated police employee.

“When Sgt. Fees puts his mind to something or gets involved in a project he goes at it 110 percent,” Dorsey said. “Sgt. Fees pays attention to detail and spends many hours of his off-duty time finding ways to improve himself or the Edmond Police Department.”

Bombs, Guns and God

A few months after the Oklahoma City bombing, Fees was involved in a shooting.

He understandably, and graciously, declines to get into the specifics of the shooting incident, but did say the short time between both events made an impact on him.

“I take the lessons from each event and apply them every day, whether on duty or off,” Fees said. “I’m a more safe officer on the street, and am very safety conscious when dealing with my responsibilities on the Bomb Squad.”

For Fees, as with other officers, support from his wife Shelley and his daughter Jessica is paramount.

“Shelley is truly the best wife anyone could ask for,” Fees said. “Her support is great and she is very tolerant of the strange hours I have to work.”

Another important aspect of his life is his Christian faith and his walk with God.

Fees attends Oakdale Baptist Church, where he is a member of the worship band. He started playing guitar in college and later created a band with some talented musicians from the University of Central Oklahoma.

One day, keyboard player Chris Moore invited Fees to play guitar at the church.

“They were needing a bass player, so I started playing at his church and have been playing praise and worship music ever since,” Fees said.

Fellow church musician Steve Boone said Fees always shows up faithfully at 7:30 a.m. on Sundays with a good attitude and a smile. Getting to know Fees has been a pleasure and a blessing, Boone said.

“I have really enjoyed playing music with Scott at Oakdale Baptist Church,” Boone said. “He’s a great guy and a fine musician.”

Fees said faith is a strong part of his job.

“Without God, I don’t see how anyone could do this job and keep their sanity,” Fees said. “The things we see as cops are unlike anything in any other profession. So for me, I have to lean on my faith, which is usually done in the midst of when calls are at their worst.”

Fees said the best thing about being an Edmond officer is that he gets to fulfill his calling to serve others.

The Edmond Sun salutes Edmond Police Sgt. Scott Fees, one of Edmond’s finest.

marks@edmondsun.com | 341-2121, ext. 108

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