Jim Fullington talks about his career in law enforcement, what policing looks like in Winder, and how his department works with the community to keep the city safe.

Q: Can you tell us a little about yourself?

A: I grew up in Macon, Georgia and went to Southwest High School. I went to the University of Georgia and got my criminal justice degree. My last part of my criminal justice program was to do an internship. I did my internship with the GBI and just fell in love with the agency at that time. They were hiring that summer. So I graduated in 1985, applied with GBI and got hired the end of that summer. I did the first 27 years of my career with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and worked in different areas like drug enforcement and crime scene investigation, and was a supervisor my last ten years.

Q: What does a typical day look like for an officer in Winder?

A: No two days are ever the same. Every day is different. Our officers work 12-hour shifts; they come on board and start answering calls throughout the day. It’s everything from, “My kid won’t get up and go to school” to cats stuck in drains. [Our officers] are constantly just available, patrolling and responding to people’s needs.

Q: What are the most common issues you respond to?

A: We’re fortunate that we don’t have a lot of violent crime on a daily basis. Our top two crime types are domestic violence and thefts. We work theft, from shoplifting to burglary to car theft. We have a large number of theft calls in the city.

Q: What can residents do to prevent theft?

A: The biggest thing is securing your property. It’s not like it was when we grew up, when people left their houses unlocked and left their cars unlocked. We strongly recommend that you secure your house. Lock your house, lock your cars—even when they’re in the driveway. There are people wandering and looking for opportunities. Don’t leave your valuables in your car. We still have people that leave weapons in cars and cars are unlocked. [We’ve worked cases where] juveniles are wandering the streets at night pulling on car doors; as long as there’s opportunities for them to open unlocked doors, they’re going to do that.

Q: How do you define community policing?

A: Our philosophy is that it’s not us against them. It’s not police against the community. We’re part of the community. We have to work together to prevent and deter crime and make it a safer and better place to live.

Q: What do your traffic stop numbers actually look like?

A: Last year we had right at 9,600 traffic stops. Of those, just under 3,000 were citations and 5,800 were warnings. We are just about two-thirds warnings to one-third citations. We patrol the streets to try to correct bad driving behavior,  so we can make the roads safer.

Q: How has social media changed policing?

A: It’s a blessing and a curse. It’s a great tool, but it’s also an avenue for people to post things that are not true, and to try to paint perspectives that are not reality. I always encourage people, that if you want to know an answer, just reach out and ask. I will talk with anybody at any time, about anything as long as we can talk civilly and professionally.

Q: What are some of the biggest challenges today?

A: One is communication. With younger officers who grew up with texting and social media, sometimes we have to work intentionally on people skills—how to talk through conflict, how to communicate in tense situations. Another challenge is how quickly information spreads. Something can be posted online before we’ve even had a chance to notify family members or fully understand what happened.

Q: How do you train officers to handle difficult situations?

A: We emphasize from the beginning—don’t police on emotion. We are never going to win a shouting match or a cussing match. We’re not going to come out ahead. We teach them to stay calm and to separate yourself from the emotion. Sometimes it’s just as important to listen as it is to talk.

Q: How do you support officers’ mental health?

A: We try to make it part of our everyday philosophy. Our belief is that someone who is healthy at home and in life is going to be a better officer. We want them to be in a good place mentally, for their safety and the public’s safety.

We offer counseling through the city, and they can access it without going through us. We also have peer support within law enforcement—officers who are trained to talk with others who may be dealing with something.

They see difficult things over time: serious accidents, injuries, situations involving children. We want to make sure they have resources and support to handle that.

Q: Tell us about River.

A: River is our emotional support dog. She’s a brown lab that belongs to Captain Rikki Banks and has been with us for about three years.

She's not an attack dog. She's not a drug dog. She is just a big, soft, friendly, lovable dog that just makes everybody feel better. If a child [or adult] is a witness or a victim in something, having a dog around that kind of it kind of helps them to relax and feel more comfortable. [For our officers,] if they're tense and having a bad day—just to give her a treat or let her come up and wag or tail and patter, it just makes your day better

Q: How has technology changed policing?

A: When I first came on in the late 80s, they gave me a four channel radio, a five shot revolver, and said “go get ‘em.” We covered multiple counties, and when we got our first pager, it only gave you a phone number. You had to go find a payphone to call back.

Now officers have vehicles with internet, laptop computers, and digital ticket writers in the car. They can run tags, write reports, and print citations right there. They have cell phones that are basically pocket computers. They can look up information, find addresses, and locate individuals.

We now have cameras everywhere, and we’ve solved so many cases, especially thefts, with cameras from homes and businesses. We also have body cams, and we can go back and see exactly what happened in a situation.

Q: Can you share a memorable story from your career?

A: Early in my career, we got called to a drug overdose. The guy that was with him said they had been over there stealing marijuana and said there was a huge field of it. We didn’t believe him at first. But he took us out there, and it was exactly what he said—a large field hidden out in the middle. It was right before harvest. They had it fertilized and watered, and it was ready to be cut.

We went back, called for help, and came up with a plan. We went in and cut a big section out of it [to make them think somebody had found it], and then we stayed out there to see if they would come back. Right at dark, they did come back and started cutting it. We could hear them out there harvesting it.

So we moved in. We had units coming in from one side, and we were coming in from the other. One of the deputies was at the back to keep them from getting out, and when they came through, he opened up on the side of the truck with a shotgun.

We came across the field in a truck, hit a stump, blew a tire, and kept going on three wheels chasing them. We ended up stopping the truck, and one of them had crawled underneath it trying to hide. Then we realized there were more of them—one in the bed of the truck under the marijuana, and one in the trailer under the marijuana.

By the time it was over, we had six people in custody. And when we gathered everything up, we ended up with about 2,500 pounds of marijuana.

Q: How can residents engage with the department?

A: Don’t hesitate to come by and see us. If you’ve got a question or concern, we’ll talk to you, meet with you where you are. We’re here to protect and serve.

Q: What’s your outlook for the future of the department?

A: We’re continuing to grow with the community. We want to keep up with technology, expand tools like drones and K9 units, and continue building relationships with residents. At the same time, we’re focused on developing our officers so they can be as professional and effective as possible.

Q: What’s something residents should know about Winder?

A: We’re very fortunate here. We have strong community support, good leadership, and officers who care about what they do. I’ve worked in a lot of places, and that combination is not always there.

It makes Winder a great place to live and a great place to police.