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The Waycross Police
Department is commanded by Chief Anthony H. Tanner and is made up of two primary ‘Sections’. The Administrative
Services Section is under the command of Captain R.M. Barber. The
Section is made up of such functions as the Budget and records
systems, the Court system, the Evidence system, Weed and Seed
Functions, as well as Personnel and Training. All these functions
primary missions are too support the Field Operations.
Captain Chris Tatum
commands the Field Operations Section, which is composed of such
functions as the Uniformed Patrol Unit, the Criminal Investigations
Unit, the School Resource Officers, canine services, and SWAT
operations.
The Field Operations
Section is the larger of the two Sections that make up the Waycross
Police Department. The Field Operations Section contains two Units,
the Uniform Patrol Unit and the Criminal Investigations Unit. The
Field Operation Section is the most visible part of the Police
Department and deals with the public through a variety of activities
including law enforcement matters as well as non-enforcement matters
which effect quality of life issues.
The section contains
fifty-two sworn officers who are responsible to the citizens of
Waycross twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. These officers
depending on their assignments patrol the city, investigate and
detect crime as well as work traffic, investigate accidents, and
answer calls of a non-enforcement nature. The section also provides
personnel for special assignments such as School Resource Officers,
the Traffic team and Warrant/ Community Response team. Many of the
assigned personnel also carry out additional assignments such as K-9
Handlers, Field Training Officers, Negotiators, CVSA Operators, SWAT
team members, and bicycle officers.
The (C.A.T. line)
was introduced in 2001 through the Criminal Investigation Unit as a
means by which any citizens could leave an anonymous tip on a crime
which had occurred or which might occur with out being directly
involved. The line continues to prove successful and continues to be
used regularly.
The Uniform Patrol
Unit of the Field Operations Sections is supervised by Lt. Tommy
Cox. This is the largest and most visible unit of the Police
Department. Lt. Cox supervises (7) seven Uniform Patrol Sergeants
that directly supervise the day to day operations of the (31) thirty
- one patrol officers who work on the street. These officers are the
first responders to 911 calls for service. They are responsible for
a large variety of tasks on a daily basis. These duties include
criminal investigation, accident investigation, criminal
appreshension, traffic enforcement and rendering first aid, as well
as handling calls of a non enforcement nature and quality of life
issues. The officers are also assigned permanent sides of town and
are required to carry out Community Oriented Policing functions such
as attending events on their assigned sides of town, Crime watch
meetings and other training events sponsored by the Department.
These officers responded to 19,230 calls for service with an average
response time of 4:35 minutes. In 2007 the Patrol Unit wrote 5290
incidents reports, of those 2902 were criminal incident reports.The
unit cleared 41% or 1204 of those reports with immediate arrest of
the suspect(s) before the remaining cases were forwarded to the
Criminal Investigation Unit for additional investigations. The
Patrol Unit investigated 1,163 automobile accidents and arrested 112
D.U.I. or Impaired Drivers during 2007. Lt. Cox additionally
supervises five (5) School Resource Officers, (SRO), that work
within 2 middle schools, the high school and the Alternative School.
Lt. Cox is also responsible for three (3) police K-9s, a four man
Traffic team which includes two motorcycles and a four man Warrant
/Community Response team.
Criminal
Investigations Unit
The Support Services
Unit provides direct support to the Patrol Unit, and Court Services
Unit. All clerical, financial, and record keeping functions of the
Waycross Police Department are centralized within this unit. The
unit consists of nine (9) employees who perform a wide variety of
support funcitons many of which occur twenty-four (24) hours a day
seven (7) days a week.
The unit manages all
revenue derived from the court system, and other services such as
records checks, report distribution. It is responsible for
formulating all reports and distribution of all funds as required by
various state and federal agencies.
Georgia Crime
Information/National Crime Information terminal operations are
functions of this unit. The Support Services Unit also manages all
centralized supplies, timekeeping and quartermaster functions for
the Waycross Police Department.
Yet another
overwhelming function of this unit is property management. This
includes Departmental inventory as well as the storage, tracking,
and disposal of evidence associated with crime or simply recovered
property.
The court services
Unit actually comprises the court system and probation system. Court
services consist of one (1) supervisor, one (1) clerk of court.
The Waycross Police
Department holds court four times a month. Court is held all day on
the first and third Thursday of each month as arraignment days.
Trial dates are held Wednesday and Thursday mornings of the second
week of each month.
The probation system has been taken over by
a private probation company Providence. For offenders who have been
found guilty of traffic violations or city ordinance violations
probation may serve to allow an individual time to pay his or her
fine or to render supervision while community service is completed.
There are currently 430 active probationers and 95 revocations
against probationers for a total of 525 current probation accounts.
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