GAINESVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT

GAINESVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT
Annual Report 2013
MISSION STATEMENT
It is the mission of the Gainesville Police Department to work in
partnership with the community to improve the quality of life in
the City of Gainesville. We will demonstrate compassion for all
people and render services with respect, dignity, and courtesy.
The men and women of the Gainesville Police Department will
strive to protect and to support individual rights, while at all
times providing for the security of all persons and all property in
our community.
An Internationally
Accredited and State
Certified Police
Agency
A Message From Your Chief
Brian P. Kelly, Chief of Police
Welcome inside the Internationally Accredited and
State Certified Gainesville Police Department. We
are proud to present you with our 2013 Annual
Report.
This
report
details
your
police
department’s activity for the 2013 calendar year. It
is our sincere hope that you will find it informative
and interesting. The Gainesville Police Department’s goal is to remain transparent so that the
community we serve will know the inner workings
of our agency.
It is the mission of the Gainesville Police
Department to work in partnership with the
community to improve the quality of life in the City
of Gainesville. We will demonstrate compassion for
all people and render services with respect, dignity, and courtesy. The men and women of the
Gainesville Police Department will strive to protect and to support individual rights, while at all
times providing for the security of all persons and all property in our community.
The men and women of the Gainesville Police Department are honored to be able to serve the
Gainesville community with pride and professionalism. It is our commitment to work in
partnership with the community to improve the quality of life in the City of Gainesville that
drives our daily actions.
As your Chief of Police, I am dedicated to the law enforcement profession and the City of
Gainesville. Your agency is comprised of dedicated personnel that I am honored and grateful to
serve beside. I am further grateful for a City Council and a City Administration that understands
the importance of public safety and supports your police department’s daily efforts to improve
the quality of life in the City of Gainesville.
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Your department continues its diligence in maintaining its International Accreditation and State
Certification designations to confirm that not only your agency’s practices are consistent with
progressive professional standards in the field of law, but that your department is open to an independent review of its practices to make sure that it is performing at its peak performance. In
March of 2013, the Gainesville Police Department was awarded its seventh accreditation award
by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (C.A.L.E.A.) and in August of 2013 we received our fifth certification award from the State of Georgia Law Enforcement
Certification Program. Both of these awards confirm our commitment to law enforcement excellence and prove your agency is dedicated to the law enforcement profession and is performing at
a world class level.
As with many governmental entities, it has been extremely important for the Gainesville Police
Department to closely monitor its operations to remain within our approved budget, while continuing to provide the services required of your police department. To do this, the executive staff
of the department initiates proactive steps to ensure we are implementing the best techniques,
and practices and procedures within the law enforcement community to better serve the citizens
of Gainesville and to ensure we are performing at a top notch pace. We are continually monitoring our resources to make sure we have them in the best place to provide the best services to our
community. We continue to research and implement technology to better assist our citizens in
obtaining police services, as well as, keeping the citizenry better informed of educational and
public service announcements. During 2013, the Gainesville Police Department finalized its three
year search for a new records management system (RMS) to replace our outdated and obsolete
records management system. Our new RMS will allow our agency the ability to become paperless and increase our effectiveness and efficiency by increasing our time allotted to proactive activities by decreasing our time designated to administrative activities that has been required of
our antiquated RMS. Our new RMS will provide many new features to enhance our communications to the public we serve, as well as, enhance our working relationships with other criminal
justice agencies we work with daily. Implementation of our new RMS has begun and is expected
to be fully operational by the end of 2014. The new RMS is just one example of the many new
resources the Gainesville Police Department was able to add to its toolbox in 2013 to better serve
our community. As these trying fiscal times continue, it is our goal to ensure we continue serving
our citizenry in the most economical way, while striving to improve our resources to allow our
employees the ability to streamline their responses to community requests and emergency calls
for service all while maintaining their effectiveness.
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As in any agency, the strength of our department is our employees, and it is with deep gratitude
and appreciation that I acknowledge their hard work and dedication to the Law Enforcement
Profession and the Gainesville Community. They continue to strive for excellence in this trying
economy and they do so with pride and professionalism and it is their hard work and dedication
that makes the Gainesville Police Department the fine agency it is today. It is their daily
sacrifices to stand up in service of others that continues to keep Gainesville a safe community to
work, live, and play
We enter 2014 with optimism and a commitment to do our best to provide security for our
community, while continuing to provide the high level of quality service that has always been associated with the City of Gainesville and its Police Department. We promise to provide our services through the prudent allocation of resources provided to us by the tax payers of Gainesville.
We welcome your ideas, questions, comments and/ or concerns and invite you to contact any
member of our executive staff via the following contact information:
Chief Brian P. Kelly
770-535-5625
[email protected]
Captain Chad White 770-535-5227
[email protected]
Captain Carol Martin 770-531-2677
[email protected]
Please visit our department’s website at www.gainesville.org/police-department to learn more
about your Gainesville Police Department and the services it offers to the community.
Thank you for supporting our efforts as we continue to make Gainesville one of the safest communities in which to work, live, and play, and thank you for allowing us to serve you as your
public safety professionals.
Sincerely,
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Organizational Chart
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Office of the Major
Paul A. Sherman, a 25 year veteran of the police
department serves in the position of Major and oversees the Office of the Major, (OTM) with the duties and
responsibilities of assisting the Chief of Police in planning and directing day to day operation of the Police
Department.
Additionally, Major Sherman is responsible for making
promotional recommendations to the Chief of Police
and ensures that the chain of command between the
Chief of Police and department members is
maintained. The overall responsibility for ensuring that
all reports are submitted on time to the Chief of Police
and are reviewed for accuracy and content also falls to
the Major. The Major is largely responsible for assisting
Major Paul Sherman
the Chief of Police with budget preparation and
providing information regarding any issues concerning the department. Finally, the Major is
expected to advise and assist officers and investigators in any non-routine investigations and
address other police related issues. The Operations and Support Services Bureau Captains also
report directly to the Major.
The OTM oversees the Community Relations Unit, (CRU) which is chiefly responsible for the
Public Information Officers and Crime Analysis component of the department, as well as
ensuring programs, projects and activities are developed and implemented to increase the
visibility of the department in the community. The Community Relations Unit also ensures that
the news media is kept informed of police and public safety incidents and crime prevention
topics of particular public interest. The crime analysis component of CRU ensures that crime
data and crime patterns are documented and distributed to appropriate personnel within the
department.
The OTM is also responsible for overseeing the Internal Affairs Unit and the management of
the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., (CALEA) program and
the Georgia State Law Enforcement Certification program.
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Accreditation and State Certification
The Accreditation and Certification unit is comprised of one sergeant who is responsible for managing,
coordinating, and supervising the efforts of the Gainesville Police Department to maintain its accredited/certified status and achieving re-accreditation/re-certification. The Accreditation/Certification
Manager interprets standards that have been established by the Commission on Accreditation for Law
Enforcement Agencies/State Certification program and develops, coordinates, and initiates programs to
bring the Gainesville Police Department into compliance with the standards. This position also
researches and develops new departmental policies and procedures, reviews them with the Chief of
Police and initiates them after approval.
The State Certification is through the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police.
Certification is a progressive and time-proven way of helping law enforcement
agencies calculate and improve their overall performance. The foundation of
certification lies in the promulgation of standards containing a clear statement of
professional objectives. Participating agencies conduct a thorough self-analysis to
determine how existing operations can be adapted to meet these objectives.
When procedures are in place, a team of trained assessors verifies that applicable
standards have been successfully implemented. The process culminates with a decision by a joint
executive committee that the agency has met the requirements for certification. Certification status
represents a significant professional achievement. Certification acknowledges the implementation of
policies and procedures that are conceptually sound and operationally effective. The Gainesville Police
Department has been State Certified since August 1997. The Gainesville Police Department was one of
the original nine agencies to become State Certified and due to become recertified in the summer of
2016.
The Law Enforcement Accreditation Program was the first credentialing program established by CALEA
after its founding. It was originally developed to address what was seen as a need to enhance law
enforcement as a profession and to improve law enforcement. That mission continues today. The
program is open to all types of law enforcement agencies, on an international basis. It provides a
process to systematically conduct an internal review and assessment of the agencies’ policies and
procedures, and make adjustments wherever necessary to meet a body of internationally accepted
standards.
The Gainesville Police Department has been CALEA Accredited since 1993 and is due
to accept its seventh reaccreditation award in March of 2016. The department was
the 250th agency in the Nation to be nationally Accredited and the 11th in the State
of Georgia. For more information please go to the Georgia Association of Chiefs of
Police at gachiefs.com or CALEA at calea.org.
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Community Relations Unit
The Community Relations Unit (CRU) of the Gainesville Police Department is a component of the Office
of the Major and is staffed by Corporals Joseph G. Britte, Jr. and Kevin Holbrook. The purpose of this
component is to work diligently to provide security for persons and property, the preservation of public
tranquility, educating and training the community and businesses and remaining active in public
organizations and community functions. This unit is also responsible for agency recruiting and routinely
attends recruitment fairs and functions to actively recruit viable candidates to serve along with the best
of the best at the Gainesville Police Department.
Crime Prevention takes a proactive approach to preventing criminal activity. The belief that preventing
a crime from occurring being far less costly than investigating and prosecuting the criminal remains the
standard in the industry of crime prevention. Therefore the Community Relations Unit also provides
Crime Analysis and serves as Public Information Officer (PIO).
The purpose of Crime Analysis is to analyze crimes within geographical areas through incident reports
provided by our Criminal Investigations Division. Reports are then mapped in 3 categories: business/
residential burglaries and entering autos. Through these reports our patrol division is able to target
harden areas with the most criminal activity.
The purpose of the Public Information Officer is to be the liaison between the police department and
the media. It is the intent of the Gainesville Police Department to maintain the highest level of
cooperation between its members and those of the news media while disseminating only that information which, by its nature, is considered "Public Information".
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Community Relations Unit
The Community Relations Unit in collaboration with the School Resource Officers worked together on
the 3rd annual Public Safety Academy. This is a joint effort between the Gainesville Fire Department
and the Gainesville Police Department to show the public the ins and outs and behind the scenes of
public safety. In an effort to better serve our community and utilize resources we combined the
Business Police Academy and the Public Safety Academy together. The Business Police Academy has
been a longstanding program which strives to ensure an exchange of information between businesses
and the police.
Through funds and grants from the community the department
was able to host the 10th annual Shop with a Gainesville Cop
program during Christmas for families in need. With generous
support from the community we were able to raise $3,400 to
support over 20 families.
The Community Relations Unit regularly attends meetings and
public functions throughout the year. In 2013 the unit conducted well over 200 programs,
presentations, training sessions, and community meetings.
A valuable and viable asset to the police department is the Neighborhood Watch Program. The
department manages an impressing number of Neighborhood Watch Programs throughout the city.
Officers offer security assessments to both residential and commercial areas. These programs act as the
eyes and ears of the police department.
9
Internal Affairs
The Internal Affairs Unit is comprised of one sergeant who is responsible for the investigation of
complaints against Police Department employees as well as complaints filed against other city
departments’ employees. In addition, the sergeant assigned to Internal Affairs conducts background investigations on potential employees and participates in the hiring process from beginning to end. Part of the responsibilities of the sergeant also includes participation in recruitment
activities. In 2013, the Gainesville Police Department investigated a total of 13 complaints against
its personnel and 0 complaints against other city personnel.
These investigations include complaints investigated at the line level as well as investigated by Internal Affairs.
* A complaint case may contain more than one allegation.
Employment Background Investigations
In 2013, the Internal Affairs Unit completed 20 employment background investigations.
Employment background investigations consist of interviews with selected applicants, interviews
with their associates, neighbors, references, and current and former employers, as well as
reviewing Criminal and Drivers History reports and if applicable, scheduling medical and
psychological examinations.
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Operations Bureau
Captain Chad White
Captain Chad White, a 24 year veteran of the Gainesville Police Department oversees the
Operations Bureau.
Sixty-Nine officers are assigned to different divisions within this bureau.
1. Patrol Division
2. Specialized Services Division
a) Police Traffic Services Unit (PTSU)
b) Pro-Active Community Enforcement Unit (PACE)
1) Aggressive Criminal Enforcement Team (ACE)
2) Park Ranger
3) K-9 Teams
3. Honor Guard
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Patrol Division
Patrol, the agency’s first responders, is made up of four watches. Each watch is commanded by
a lieutenant and supervised by a sergeant and a supervisory corporal, with a maximum of 10
officers. Each watch has officers designated as early units in order to ensure continuity of service during watch changes. Officers within the patrol division are divided into districts in order to
cover the 37 square miles of the city. The current manpower allocated to Patrol is 50 members.
In order to effectively respond to a wide variety of calls, each watch has a designated Domestic
Violence Response Officer, Crime Scene Officer, Crisis Intervention Team Officer and a Motor
Vehicle Crash Investigator.
In 2013, the patrol division responded to and/or completed the following:
Calls for Service– 62,416
Incident Reports– 4,611
Crash Reports– 2,368
Citations– 11,485
Warning– 9,083
Field Interviews– 205
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Specialized Services Division
“On my honor, I will
never betray my
badge, my integrity, my
character or the public
trust”
The Specialized Services Division is comprised of two units. These
units are the Police Traffic Services Unit and the Pro-Active
Community Enforcement Unit. They are commanded by a
Lieutenant and each is supervised by a Sergeant. Even though
each of these units have different tasks to perform, the overall
goal is to improve the quality of life for the citizens of Gainesville
and Hall County.
Officers of the Specialized Services Division continued to offer a high level of customer service
throughout 2013. Because of their efforts, they continually receive support and recognition
from the citizens and communities they serve.
The Supervisors and Officers of the Specialized Services Division are committed to improving the
services we offer to our citizens. It is their goal to implement programs that will help reduce
crime, save lives on our roadways, and improve the quality of life for citizens of all ages and
backgrounds.
13
Police Traffic Services Unit
The Police Traffic Services Unit (PTSU) is comprised of 4 officers and supervised by a Sergeant.
The PTSU remains the coordinating agency for the Northeast Traffic Enforcement Network
(NETEN) and remains responsible for coordinating monthly network meetings. While the PTSU
continues to enforce traffic laws in the city and investigate traffic crashes, they also educate the
public about driving under the influence and about the proper use of child restraint systems.
In 2013 the PTSU accomplished the following:
PTSU Annual Statistics
Citations– 2,944
Warnings– 678
DUI’S– 131
Incident Reports– 259
Crash Reports– 528
Safety Education Programs– 57
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Police Traffic Services Unit
Total crashes, injuries, and fatalities:
The PTSU officers are specially trained to respond to and investigate serious traffic crashes and
fatality crashes. The total number of crashes reported during the 2013 calendar year was 1990.
Of those 1990 crashes, there were 386 reported injuries and 6 fatalities.
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Police Traffic Services Unit
Crashes vs. Injuries per month:
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Police Traffic Services Unit
Injuries/ Fatalities/ DUI and Speeding:
During 2013, the Gainesville Police Department recorded six fatality crashes. There were
16 injuries as a result of DUI related crashes. Speed related crashes resulted in 33 injuries.
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Police Traffic Services Unit
Top Five Crash Locations:
PTSU Officers concentrate their enforcement and patrol efforts in areas that have been
designated by crash data as top crash locations to include the top five crash areas and stretches
of roadway. Officers log this activity on traffic complaint logs to include hours spent in the areas
and citations and warnings issued in these areas.
The associated factors in the majority of the crashes in Gainesville were identified to be,
improper lane change, following too close, disregard of stop/traffic signals and failure to yield.
During the calendar year of 2013, PTSU officers spent a total of 504 hours conducting
enforcement activities in these locations, resulting in 1334 citations and 307 warnings being
issued.
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Pro-Active Community Enforcement Unit (PACE)
The PACE Unit is comprised of the Aggressive Criminal Enforcement Team (ACE), the department’s Park Ranger and the department’s K-9 Teams. Officers assigned to the PACE Unit are responsible for:

Deterring criminal activities within the city limits of Gainesville as well as concentrating
their presence and law enforcement actions within the
city in an effort to reduce pattern crimes.

Interacting with the citizens and business community and when possible attending
neighborhood watch meetings.

Conducting educational meetings with Gainesville citizens aimed at reducing crime in
their assigned precinct and the City.

Conducting covert operations.

Responsible for conducting bike patrol as directed by their supervisor. (with the exception of the Canine Handlers)

Responsible for conducting follow-up investigations on self-initiated cases.
In 2013, the PACE Unit accomplished the following:
PACE Annual Statistics
Calls for Service– 1,074
Incident Reports– 272
Crash Reports– 14
Citations– 933
Field Interviews– 7
Arrests (other than citations)-361
Warrants Served– 137
PACE officers made 98 felony and 263 misdemeanor arrests during 2013. PACE officers seized
$45,325 in illegal narcotics, $24,663 in real property, and recovered $31,280 worth of stolen
property.
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K-9 Teams
The canine teams of the Gainesville Police Department are assigned to the Pro-Active
Community Enforcement Unit within the Specialized Services Division (SSD) working under the
supervision of a sergeant. The Canine Coordinator for the department is the SSD Commander.
The Gainesville Police Department canines are trained for drug searches, articles searches and
tracking of suspects and missing persons. All canine teams train monthly to meet standards and
each year must be certified by an independent canine certifying body.
In 2013 the canine teams accomplished the following:
Team Utilizations
Arrests
Apprehensions
Apprehensions with bites
Tracks Attempted
Tracks Successful
Drug Seizure Value
Property Seizure Value
166
361
21
0
55
21
$37,635
$12,502
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Honor Guard Unit
“I will always uphold
the constitution, my
community and the
agency I serve”
The Gainesville Police Department’s Honor Guard reports to the
Operations Bureau Captain and is comprised of members from
different divisions within the department. The Honor Guard may
be activated to serve the Gainesville Police Department and its members in the below
outlined events:

Funerals for fallen Gainesville Police Officers;

Funerals for Gainesville Police Officers immediate family members;

Funerals for retired officers of any law enforcement agency in the State of Georgia;

Funerals for law enforcement officers in any law enforcement agency in the State of
Georgia;

For any purpose as directed by the Chief of Police or designee.
The Gainesville Police Department also participated in numerous events throughout 2013 to
include: September 11th Memorial, Veterans Appreciation Day, Memorial Day and several
funerals of fallen officers from different departments throughout the State.
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Support Services Bureau
Captain Carol Martin
Captain Carol Martin, a 27 year veteran of the Gainesville Police Department oversees the
Support Services Bureau.
Twenty– five officers and eleven civilians are assigned to different divisions within this bureau.
1. Criminal Investigations Division
a) General Investigations
2. Training Division
a) Field Training Program
b) Juvenile Investigations
c) Special Investigations
3. Support Services Division
d) School Resource Officers
a) Quartermaster
e) Crime Scene Investigations
b) Warrant Services
f) Property and Evidence
c) GCIC Operations
d) Records Section
e) Chaplain Unit
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Criminal Investigations Division
The Criminal Investigations Division (CID) is commanded by a lieutenant and two sergeants. One
sergeant is assigned to General Investigations and the other to Special Investigations.
The General Investigations Division is comprised of eight general investigators and one juvenile
investigator. The Special Investigations Division is comprised of two investigators assigned to the
Safe Streets Task Force, two investigators assigned to the Hall County Multi Agency Narcotics
Squad, one investigator assigned to the DEA Strike Force and 3 School Resource Officers. The
Property and Evidence Section is comprised of two civilian Property and Evidence Custodians.
General Investigations maintains a twenty-four hour availability status by rotating an on-call
schedule for investigations and crime scene processing. Investigators conduct follow-up
investigations on incidents reported to the department. Types of investigations may range from
misdemeanor thefts to homicide, and all crimes in between.
The skills many of the investigators and civilians have brought to or acquired during their time in
CID, allow for most aspects of all investigations to be completed in house. These include
conducting voice stress analysis on subjects involved in crimes, translation services by the
Senior Secretary assigned to CID, processing crime scenes and producing composite drawings of
suspects and items used during the commission of crimes.
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Criminal Investigations Division
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Criminal Investigations Division
Investigators assigned to General Investigations have the responsibility of conducting criminal
investigations consisting of interviewing witnesses, and victims, to identifying, locating and
arresting suspects, presenting cases to the prosecutor and assisting in the prosecution of the
defendant, and locating, identifying, and preserving physical evidence at crime scenes.
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Criminal Investigations Division
Investigators assigned to Special Investigations have the responsibility of following up on
assigned cases but also to initiate cases from contacts in the community. In addition to their
investigative duties, investigators are often called upon for speaking engagements relating to
drug and gang prevention.
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Criminal Investigations Division
27
Criminal Investigations Division
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Criminal Investigations Division
Crime Scene and Evidence Processing
Two General Investigators are also designated as the department’s crime scene processors.
These investigators have received specialized training in the recovery and preservation of
evidence. This includes but is not limited to photographing and videotaping crime scenes,
measuring and sketching crime scenes and recovering latent prints and DNA.
The Crime Scene Investigators also tested and confirmed 1.558 pounds of recovered Marijuana in
2013.
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Criminal Investigations Division
Property and Evidence Unit
The Property and Evidence Custodians are responsible for the maintenance of evidence records,
storage, and disposal and release of property and evidence that officers of the department
submit.
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Training Division
The Training Division is comprised of a Lieutenant and a
Sergeant. Both are Georgia POST Instructors. The
sergeant also serves as the Department’s Range Master
and Chief Firearms Instructor.
In addition to coordinating and instructing training
classes, this division also oversees the department’s
Armory, Firearms Maintenance and Field Training
Programs.
Training responsibilities include coordination of police
officer basic training, field training of new police
officers, firearms and less-lethal force training,
in-service training in which each sworn officer is state
mandated to receive 20 hours of specialized training annually to maintain their certification and
powers of arrest and civilian training, to include telecommunication and community service
personnel.
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Training Division
Field Training & Evaluation Program
The purpose of the Field Training and Evaluation Program is to screen and train newly hired
police officers so that each is prepared to function as a “solo” officer at the conclusion of the
training cycle. The Field Training & Evaluation Program teaches the new officer to transform the
knowledge learned in the classroom (academy), to skills in the field. This training is 17 weeks of
intensive on-the-job training conducted by a corporal of the Uniform Patrol Division. Each
corporal has the dual responsibility of providing police services to the citizens, as well as
conducting the training and evaluations for the new officers. During the Field Training and
Evaluation Program, the new officer is evaluated and required to meet standards in thirty performance categories that cover areas of critical performance task, frequent performance task,
knowledge, attitude and relations, and appearance.
The Sergeant assigned to the Training Division is responsible for the general administration and
evaluation of the Field Training and Evaluation Program. The Training Sergeant monitors the
overall development of the new officers during the training period for the purposes of
ascertaining any deficiencies and resolving them through training and retraining.
During 2013 eleven new officers successfully completed the Field Training and Evaluation
program and now provide police services to the citizens and visitors of the City of Gainesville.
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Support Services Quartermaster
The Support Services Sergeant is assigned to serve as the department’s quartermaster,
maintaining control and inventory of departmental property. He also maintains the fleet of
department vehicles and furnishes them with emergency equipment. This sergeant additionally
supervises and oversees security of the Municipal Court, departmental Warrant Officers,
and the Records and Terminal Agency Coordinator.
Warrant Officers
The Gainesville Police Department has two police officers
assigned to the service of warrants. A majority of these
warrants are bench and probation warrants that originate
in the Municipal Court. However, these officers also serve
warrants that originate from other agencies and
jurisdictions. Additionally, these officers coordinate prisoner transportation for persons arrested on City of
Gainesville warrants by outside agencies.
Municipal Court and Sentinel Offender Services issued 445 Bench Warrants and 402 Probation
Warrants during 2013. There were 632 Bench Warrants and 443 Probation Warrants closed
during the year. The total amount of warrants on file as of December 31, 2013 is 835.
The total number of inmates transported to Court from the Hall County Detention Center was
678 inmates and out of county transports were 70 inmates.
The Gainesville Police Department Warrant Officers served 212 other County Warrants, 469 Hall
County Sheriff’s Office Warrants, 11 other State Warrants, 1 Federal Warrant and 180
Immigration holds for a total of 873 warrants/holds served during 2013.
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Support Services
GCIC and Records Sections
The Terminal Agency Coordinator (TAC) oversees the Georgia Crime
Information Center (GCIC) functions. These functions include processing
record restrictions and Criminal History requests and entering and removing
data into the GCIC system (such as stolen/recovered items and vehicles,
missing persons, etc.). The TAC also supervises two Data Terminal Operators
who are assigned to this component. In 2013, this section ran 3,761 Criminal
History Inquires for departmental investigations, the city’s code enforcement division, the City
Marshal’s Office and government employment inquires.
The Records section of the Gainesville Police Department is comprised of one civilian supervisor,
one open records coordinator and three record clerks. Personnel in this section are responsible
for compiling information for open records request and the completion of the Uniform Crime
Reporting (UCR) report. This is a monthly report that is forwarded to the State of Georgia and
then to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for crime statistics compilation. The UCR divides
offenses into two groups; Part I offenses and Part II offenses. Part I offenses are crimes that are
considered serious, tend to be reported more reliably than others, and are reported directly to
the police and not to a separate agency that doesn't necessarily contribute to the UCR. Part II
offenses are crimes comprised of non-serious felonies and misdemeanors.
The Records Section receives and maintains all documentation generated by the police
department connected with day to day operations. These include crash reports, incident reports
and follow up investigative reports. They collect fees for various permits, wrecker bills, record
restricts, and report copies.
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UCR Crime Statistics
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Support Services
Permits
The Support Services Bureau is also responsible for the processing and coordination of special
events held throughout the city and their associated permits.
Total Permits: 111
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Support Services
Chaplain Unit
The Gainesville Police Department’s Police Chaplain Unit was re-established in 2011, in an effort
to better serve our officers and community.
The Police Chaplain Unit reports to the Support Services Bureau Captain and is comprised of
ordained or appointed clergy members who volunteer their services to the department. The
Police Chaplains provide emotional and spiritual support to employees, their families, retirees
and citizens during times of crisis, sorrow, conflict and joy, both individually and collectively.
The Chaplains frequently ride with the officers on patrol and are there to assist in those cases
where his/her counsel and advice may be helpful. The Chaplains, upon request, respond to
incidents of a serious nature to assist those involved by acting as a liaison between victims, their
families, and the Gainesville Police Department. They also assist the department in making family
notifications of serious injury or death. The Chaplains serve in ceremonial functions consistent
with the position such as funerals, memorial services and religious ceremonies.
Gainesville Police Chaplains are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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Awards and Recognitions
Valor Award
Recipients:
Sergeant Jim VonEssen
Corporal Drew Reed
Officer Steven Folkers
Meritorious Service
Departmental Citation
Recipients:
Recipients:
Officer Joel Carter
Corporal Dallas Bright
Officer Bryan Woods
Officer David Cobb
Officer Erin Escalante
Officer Jeremy Edge
Officer Michael Manley
Officer Pete Bartholomew
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Awards and Recognitions
Employee of the Quarter
Recipients:
2nd Quarter
3rd Quarter
4th Quarter
Officer Joel Carter
Officer Barry Edwards
Corporal Drew Reed
Officer Doug Whiddon
Investigator Brad Raper
John W. Jacobs Sr.
Memorial Award of
Excellence in Law
Enforcement
Sons of the American
Revolution Law Enforcement Medal
Hall County Domestic
Violence Task Force Officer
of the Year
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Awards and Recognitions
Traffic Safety Awards
Recipients:
Speed Enforcement
Occupant Safety Violations
DUI Enforcement
Officer Casey Chastain
Officer Adam Davis
MPO Larry Sanford
2013 Governor’s Office of Highway Safety
Governor’s Challenge Award for Technology
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Awards and Recognitions
Traffic Safety Awards
Mothers Against Drunk Driving Award
Recipients:
Silver Award
50 DUI Arrests
MPO Larry Sanford
Bronze Award
Bronze Award
25 DUI Arrests
25 DUI Arrests
Officer Adam Davis
OFC Justin Martin
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Police Unity Tour
The Gainesville Police Department was represented in the Police Unity Tour for its fourth
consecutive year. Master Police Officers Griggs Wall and Mike Huckaby along with Corporal Kevin
Holbrook participated in the 250 plus mile bicycle ride from Virginia to Washington D.C. to raise
awareness of law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty.
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Law Enforcement Oath of Honor
On my honor, I will never
betray my badge, my integrity,
my character or the public trust
I will always have the courage to hold
myself and others accountable for our actions.
I will always uphold the constitution,
my community and the agency I serve.
GAINESVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT
701 Queen City Parkway S.W.
Gainesville, Georgia 30501
770.534.5252 ph
770.531.2683 fax
www.gainesville.org
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