Milton Launching It's Own Police Department

By DOUG NURSE The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionPublished on: 04/29/07

On Tuesday, the city of Milton reaches another milestone when it officially launches its own police department. Twenty-one officers strong, the department will equal or surpass the number of officers provided by Fulton County, said Chris Lagerbloom, the public safety director.

"I was looking for experience and diversity in skills," Lagerbloom said. "We have one officer with 36 years' experience. Another was a police chief in South Georgia. But you don't want all veterans. You need that spark. You need the Generation X officer who can deal with the high school students. We wanted the broad range of experience."

Some applicants brought unique experience and skills, such as Chad Taylor, formerly of the state Department of Natural Resources, who is knowledgeable about wildlife issues; Alexis Powell, who covered Milton while with Fulton County police; and Matt Marietta, who was once chief of police in Cuthbert.

And Lagerbloom specifically recruited some officers for their skills, including Doug LeCompte, formerly a member of the Georgia Highway DUI task force, and Lt. Sherry Cornett, the chief trainer in the Fulton County Police Department's police academy.Lagerbloom plans to bring the community policing style of law enforcement to Milton. Under this concept, police are not just hunting for bad guys; they also serve as liaisons between the community and City Hall.
Lagerbloom answered a few questions for AJC NorthSide reporter Doug Nurse.

Q: Tell us about community policing as it relates to Milton.

A: Milton's unique in that it has 86 percent residential communities, so it's a different style of policing for this model. That takes a special person that can put some of the traditional policing aside at times and deal with quality-of-life issues. ... I see us spending the larger bulk of our time in the neighborhoods. "That's not in my job description" is not in our vocabulary. Just because a pothole is not something we put blacktop in doesn't mean we can't find the right person to do that. In hiring, we were looking for somebody who wouldn't be upset if they were asked to do something that's not traditional police work.

Q: What's been the most difficult thing about starting the department?

A: It's been a challenge to coordinate the timelines. Everything has a timeline to it. Bulletproof vests is a prime example. The vests are a custom-fit piece of equipment. It takes six weeks to deliver it. Juggling that with the hiring and having the vests delivered from Jacksonville before we come on line on May 1 has been a challenge. There wasn't much wiggle room.

Q: What will be the department's first priority in terms of law enforcement?

A: We've got some of the normal police-type stuff. We're learning that from people like Alexis Powell when we drive around on familiarization rides in our 15-passenger van we rented. He can say, "Let me tell you what happened at that house" and "Let me tell you what that car means," because he has firsthand knowledge. There's not an overabundance of that stuff. Do I think there's drugs in Milton? Absolutely. Have I heard drugs are likely to come down Arnold Mill Road and Ga. 9 to stay off [Ga.] 400 and come down out of Forsyth and Cherokee counties? Yeah, I've heard that. In talking with the officers who serve the area, there's not a major identified problem. We've got to learn the community and find out what their needs are and formulate a plan to address it. At this point, everything is conceptual.

Q: How will you balance the need for aggressive law enforcement, which people say they want, without alienating the people you serve with aggressive law enforcement?

A: Right now we're everybody's best friend because we haven't taken action against anybody. We don't always have an attractive job. I want people to know we're responsive to their suggestions and we're responsive to their complaints. I hope in 95 percent of our encounters we'll remain the good guys. Community policing will help a lot.

Q: What benchmarks will you have for success?

A: I have a couple of concepts there. We will compare our crime statistics in the past with crime statistics in the future. The other measure I really believe will come from our citizens. Our success will be determined from the feedback and the comments from our citizens.