SECTION V PUBLIC SAFETY, POLICE, FIRE AND EMERGENCY RESCUE 1100//1133//22000044 Authors: Wesley Walker, Danny Daniels, George Scott, et al INTRODUCTION The citizens of Camden County sleep well knowing that their life safety issues are entrusted in the hands of professional sheriff, police, fire fighter and emergency medical personnel. The cities and county have created a remarkable service delivery strategy that maximizes coverage and minimizes cost to the taxpayers. In addition the community has the services of numerous other public safety and homeland defense resources including: • • • • • • •

KBNSB Military Police & Fire Units United States Coast Guard Southeast HQ Georgia State Patrol Georgia Bureau of Investigations United States Navy Investigations Camden County Emergency Management Agency Camden County 911 Center

When the Department of Defense announced their decision in the mid-1970’s to construct an east coast submarine base at Kings Bay, Georgia life in this small rural county changed immensely. The planning and building of the infrastructure improvements were massive, both on base and off base, and was heavily funded by the federal government through impact dollars. These funds were used by the cities and county to construct governmental buildings, roads, and schools to handle the influx of people secondary to the growth and development of the naval facilities. These facilities included new fire and rescue stations; with new equipment to take the place of old poorly equipped stations. More recently the community funded a new Sheriff‘s substation that houses the 911 center along with a second prisoner holding facility. Additional investments were made across the community including a St. Marys Police station that has been expanded and modernized to accommodate the US Coast Guard requirements for its headquarters. FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICES Camden County Fire Rescue (CCFR), the St. Marys Fire Department (SMFD), and Kingsland Fire Rescue (KFR) collectively provide a professional and dependable Fire Rescue service. This service includes a very highly respected Advance Life Support (ALS) ambulance service for both the urban and rural environments throughout Camden County. Additionally resident appreciate that 95% of the county has an Insurance Service Organization (ISO) Personal Protection Class (PPC) rating of a 3 or 4. This tells each and every citizen that their fire protection is of the highest quality and that equates to a residential fire insurance premium that is extremely low. CCFR recently achieved national attention by obtainable an ISO for the unincorporated areas fire

V-1

insurance rating of four which is remarkable for a rural county. Obtaining this has provided a significant reduction in homeowner’s insurance premiums.

Kingsland Fire Rescue Station 4 & Ladder 4 Photograph 1

CCFR & NSB Kings Bay Fire Dept. In Joint Training on Base Photograph 2 V-2

The graph below demonstrates the progression in demand for service consequential to primary and secondary growth from the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay locating in Camden County Camden County Fire Rescue 4500

2003

4000

1998

3500

Emergency Runs

3000 1993 2500

2000 1988 1500

1000

1983

500

0

1978

Fire Rescue Calls Chart 1

OFFICE OF THE SHERIFF Camden County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) is comprised of approximately 130 personnel with an annual budget of 2.2 million dollars. Currently, Sheriff William E. Smith, an elected official, is Camden’s chief law enforcement and chief detention officer. He is responsible for running the county jail system, providing security in all courts of law, serving civil process, assisting local police when needed, and providing total law enforcement services for all unincorporated areas. The Sheriff’s Office also provides communications services for the other police departments and emergency medical communication service countywide through an enhanced 911-dispatch center Through the Georgia Police Accreditation Coalition (GPAC), CCSO was accredited by the Georgia Law Enforcement Certification Agency, fulfilling and maintaining 144 certification standards. Camden County became the second county in the State of Georgia to have all law enforcement agencies accredited. Within the Camden County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) there are six divisions that provide law enforcement services. They are uniform patrol division, criminal investigations division, corrections, civil process and warrants, 911 communications, and community oriented programs. Additionally, there is a search and rescue unit that is manned by

V-3

approximately 150 volunteers from local citizenry and navy personnel of Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base. Additional information is obtainable at www.subasekb.navy.mil

ST. MARYS POLICE DEPARTMENT The St. Marys Police Department (SMPD) is headed by Chief of Police Fred Hayes and is supported by 27 law enforcement officers’ one animal control officer and four administrative personnel. The SMPD features a program dedicated to checking on the elderly citizens of the city. The department also has an auxiliary who assist the SMPD in a variety of ways. The SMPD is co-located with the U.S. Coast Guard. More detailed information about the department and its programs are available at www.smpd.org KINGSLAND POLICE DEPARTMENT The Kingsland Police Depart (KPD) is a state certified law enforcement agency and is led by Chief Frank Waits and is supported by 33 law enforcement officers, one animal control officer and two administrative employees. Recently the KPD has been involved with several important community programs such as: KOPS & KIDS which is a reading program for first grade classes; SENIOR CITIZENS SAFETY where officers meet with senior groups; and COPS CORNER where an officer reads a traffic law and discusses in layman’s terms on a local radio station. These are but a few of the many programs that are sponsored by the Sheriff and the local police departments REVIEW OF COMMUNITY STATISTICS Work in Process COMMUNICATIONS CENTER The aftermath of 9-11 demonstrated the critical nature of a multi-discipline communication network, a network that is capable of allowing multiple agencies to communicate on multiple communication paths without service delivery being compromised. The Camden County 911 Center, a division of the Camden County Sheriffs Department, provides the nucleus for all city and county emergency traffic. The Primary Enhance 911 System is located at the CCSO Sub-Station and has many redundant backups along with a high-capacity auxiliary generator system for optimum severe weather capability. This state-of-the art facility was funded thru confiscated illegal drug funds at no cost to the citizens of Camden County. Additionally the Secondary 911 Center is located at the hardened EOC located within the Sheriffs Office in Woodbine. This location provides an excellent location should the Primary 911 Center have to be vacated secondary to an imminent natural disaster or any catastrophic event. All local law enforcement agencies working in or through Camden County utilize this 911 Center as well as all Fire Rescue Departments. As technology continues to develop this center will be the hub for all infrastructure and electronic upgrades to enhance Public Safety in Camden County.

V-4

911 Emergency Call Center Photograph 3

V-5