Garner Police Department Annual Report 2018 Published July 2019 | Page 8

commanded by Lieutenant Chris Clayton. The
division consists of the General Investigation
and Special Investigation Units. The General
Investigation Unit includes a sergeant and five
investigators.
The Special Investigation Unit
includes a sergeant, two drug investigators, and
a gang investigator. The General Investigation
Unit is responsible for handling investigations of
most felony crimes that are reported to the Garner
Police Department such as burglaries, robberies,
frauds, and other crimes.
The Special Investigation Unit is comprised of
three investigators who focus on drug and gang
crimes and serve as the intelligence officers for
the Department.
Operations Bureau-Support Services Division
The Support Services Division is led by the Support
Services Lieutenant and consists of the Traffic
Safety Unit led the by a Traffic Safety Sergeant,
and a Community Services Sergeant. Michael
McIver serves as the Support Services Lieutenant
and manages special events and extra duty
assignments. Chris Adams serves as the Traffic
Safety Sergeant, and Sophia Sandlin serves as the
Community Services Sergeant.
The Traffic Safety Unit is responsible for the
investigation of traffic crashes, addressing speed
complaints, conducting traffic studies and analyses,
and managing traffic control at large events like
the Christmas Parade and the Town’s annual July
4th Celebration. All Traffic Safety Officers have
advanced training in crash investigation and work
to provide educational services to the community
through programs such as seatbelt emphasis
(Click it or Ticket), DWI enforcement (Booze It
and Lose It), BikeSafe, and anti-texting/distracted
driving campaigns both on the road and in our
high school.
Support Services is also staffed by a Community
Services Sergeant and five school resource officers
(SROs). The SROs patrol our two middle schools
and two high schools, working with students and
staff to ensure a safe learning environment. These
SROs are partners with the school, and work to
8
educate, mentor, and enforce laws. We have had
a productive SRO program in place since 1994.
Animal Control was also assigned under the
Community Services Sergeant, and is responsible
for investigating all animal bite cases, cruelty
cases, and stray animal complaints. During 2018
the Animal Control Program in Garner handled
941 calls for service, including the response to
299 stray animals, 53 reports of vicious animals,
93 reported animal bites, and 134 cases of
reported animal cruelty.
Supervision of the
Civilian Animal Control Officer transferred from
the Community Services Sergeant to the Division
Lieutenant in August 2018. Mike Gale serves
as the Department’s Animal Control Officer and
supervises Civilian Services Officers. This entry
level part-time position is used as a supplemental
position to assist with tasks normally assigned to
patrol officers after business hours such as locking
park gates, answering animal control complaints,
and responding to public works call outs for
evaluation. This position, although assigned to
the police department, is utilized in partnership
with Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources,
and Public Works.
Operations Bureau-Special Teams
The Special Response Team is currently
commanded by the Patrol Lieutenant, Paul
Caldwell. The Special Response Team is a part-
time assignment responsible for high risk critical
incidents such as barricaded persons, hostage
situations, warrant service, or other incidents as
needed. The Administration Lieutenant, Walter
Myer, supervised the Crisis Negotiations Team
(CNT). The Crisis Negotiations Team provides
support in operations involving barricaded or
non-compliant individuals.
The K-9 Unit is supervised by our K-9 Master
Trainer, Sonny Roberson. He manages police K-9
and coordinates training of three other handlers.
The K-9 Unit trains to detect illegal narcotics,
perform suspect or victim tracking, search
buildings or wooded areas for suspects, or locate
evidence. K-9 officers undergo hundreds of hours
of training with their assigned police dogs to
become proficient in these tasks.
GARNER POLICE DEPARTMENT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT