Ever wondered what a police officer does all day? Ever said, ‘they just sit around all day waiting for a call to come in,’ or ‘I only got a ticket because they were trying to meet their monthly quota’?
Maybe you’ve wondered what type of tech and equipment a department has at its disposal for the protection of the city and its officers.
This week, we will address some of these concerns.
At Fairfield PD, each morning begins with a briefing with the night shift so that leadership and day shift are up to date on any issue or incidents that may have occurred overnight that could potentially carry over into the next day. This way leadership is not caught off guard and day shift can take over any follow ups needed on the matter.
They also discuss caseload and progress updates, contact crime and tech labs on outstanding evidential updates, and review body camera footage with leadership, especially those that include any type of use of force or felony stops.
Next, officers begin patrolling city streets, visiting local businesses, working on reports to make sure cases progress in a timely manner, conduct follow-up interviews, provide traffic enforcement, responding to calls for service and agency assists.
“Our officers know that if a call from another agency comes through for backup, if we have someone available, they don’t have to ask, they just go,” explains Chief Gallegos. “Freestone County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Texas DPS Officers are fantastic about backing up our officers as well.”
Each Fairfield PD officer works 12-hour shifts, staggered throughout the day to ensure there are at least two officers on duty at any given time.
As for reserve officers, they are required to work at least 16 hours per month but can work as many hours over that as they wish. They are not paid employees, however. Reserves provide service to the city in exchange for the city carrying their peace officer’s license to keep it active. Fairfield PD currently has two reserve officers.
And the idea of monthly ticket quotas? Simply put, it is illegal for a department to have a quota or to offer incentives for officers to issue a certain number of citations within a particular time frame.
According to Chief Gallegos, any call can go bad. However, domestic violence calls tend to be the most dangerous, as tempers are already running high; followed by traffic stops. “You just never know what you are walking into and how people will react, especially when tempers are already flared,” he says.
To protect themselves, officers wear bulletproof vests when on patrol or responding to any type of call. “We don’t want to take any chances with the lives of our officers,” Chief Gallegos explains.
All officers wear a body camera, carry a taser and a Glock 17 Gen 5 9MM gun on the hip and each vehicle is equipped with one 12-gage shotgun and an AR-15.
All department vehicles are outfitted with in-car cameras and laptop computers as well. The cameras are Motorola’s latest model, the best on the market according to Chief Gallegos.
Cameras can be manually turned on, or are automatically turned on, when vehicle lights are activated.
“Body cameras can be your saving grace or your worst enemy,” says Chief Gallegos. “It all depends on you and the actions you take.”
Fairfield PD receives an average of 50-60 calls for service each month. “That might not sound like much, but it’s actually a lot for a city of this size,” explains Chief Gallegos.
One issue he mentioned that is starting to get out of control is the growing number of calls concerning animals, mainly dogs. “The city does not have an animal control officer, and we don’t have very many options inside the city limits,” he says. “We prefer not to write citations for animal issues, but sometimes we just don’t have a choice when it gets out of hand.”
As a side note, the City of Fairfield does have a 3-pet limit inside city limits; livestock is not considered pets.
Chief Gallegos and Assistant Chief Markham would like to make the following request of citizens:
If you have any questions or concerns regarding any police matter, please contact them before heading straight to social media to vent.
“We are here for our citizens and have an open-door policy,” says Chief Gallegos. “Please come see us or give us a call so we can visit. We are all very willing to help. We might not always agree on the outcome, but at least we can sit and talk about what happened, laws that must be followed, and we can possibly even show you camera footage to help you understand. We are not afraid to admit when we are wrong, and we are here to do our very best for the citizens of Fairfield.”
Citizens with concerns are welcome to visit the Chief and Assistant Chief at Fairfield City Hall during regular business hours, to call them at 903-389-2633 or to email them at one of the following email addresses: albert.gallegos@fairfieldtexas.gov or harold.markham@fairfieldtexas.gov.
Nicole Schaefer reporting.
