Community Policing Strategies Working Well in

Calhoun County

Community Policing is a strategy that involves you! It is when the public and law enforcement work together that true crime fighting can occur. Sir Robert Peel, the founder of the London Metropolitan Police said, “The public are the police, it’s just that the police are paid to give full time attention to do what is incumbent upon all citizens”. When our citizens are willing to get involved and contact us about issues facing their communities, we can more adequately and effectively confront potential problems. Working together produces far better results than working alone.

Recently, several instances of my deputies working with the citizens have produced some great results. A Homicide suspect was apprehended in the Horses Neck area of the county largely in part because of tips given to one of my Resident Deputies. Potentially dangerous situations have been averted at our schools because of open communication between my School Resource Deputies, school officials and students. Earlier this month, over two hundred people came to a Drug and Gang awareness meeting in Sandy Run that my deputies and I participated in. I was truly impressed with the high turnout and it shows what working together can accomplish.

Several years ago I dedicated a full time Resident Deputy to the Sandy Run Community and to the Lone Star/Fort Motte Community. Having these deputies assigned permanently in these areas, has enabled them to become familiar with the citizens living in these communities and what might be “out of place”. Last month, a Resident Deputy discovered a freshly committed burglary when he noticed that a lock on a gate had been in a position that he had not seen before. Investigating this further, he noticed a vehicle that he had not seen in the area before and located stolen items in it. The man who owned the vehicle was later arrested when he returned to the vehicle telling the deputy that he was looking at deer stands. Another burglary was solved more recently when a Lone Star home was burglarized. Here again, the Resident Deputy remembered seeing juveniles near the residence the day before, and when questioned later, they admitted their involvement in the burglary and all of the stolen property was recovered.

I would like to commend those who have come forward with information that has helped us make Calhoun County a safer place to live and encourage all citizens to call us to report any illegal or suspicious activity in their community.

Together we can make a difference!