Patrol Division

The most visible component of the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office is the Patrol Division.  When a citizen calls the communications center and requests that a Deputy respond to assist them it is most likely a Patrol Deputy who will handle their problem.  When they see a marked patrol car in their neighborhood in the middle of the night it is most likely a member of Patrol that is giving them a sense of security.

Patrol is commanded by a Captain and divided into four squads.  Each five-Deputy squad consists of a Lieutenant, a Sergeant, and three Patrol Deputies. One squad is on duty at a time. They work twelve hour swing shifts and are available 24 hours a day seven days a week.  The Patrol Squads and their telecommunicators are the two components of the Department that must be on duty regardless of the circumstances.  They work whatever holidays fall on their normally scheduled shifts and are on the roads regardless of the weather conditions.

Patrol Deputies respond to calls for service from citizens and patrol residential neighborhoods and business districts.  These Deputies also serve warrants and civil papers, conduct minor criminal investigations, collect evidence and enforce criminal and traffic laws.

The Patrol Deputies serve approximately 80% of the civil papers that come through the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office.  They typically serve civil summons and magistrate summons.  These types of Civil Process usually require a quick, one time interaction with the citizen to be served.  This frees the time and resources of the Civil Process Division to handle more complicated types of Civil Process that require specialized training and lengthy interactions with defendants. 

Patrol must be able to perform nearly every job in the department at some level and are the backbone of the department.

Training

The Haywood County Sheriff’s Office is fortunate to have several certified instructors that have been rigorously trained and certified by the State of North Carolina to train other officers.  This allows most mandated training to be conducted in-house and saves the department time and money.  Some agencies have to seek qualified instructors from other departments to conduct their state mandated training.  This also allows the Department to conduct this training at a schedule that accommodates the Department.

The State of North Carolina requires every sworn law enforcement officer in North Carolina to complete 24 hours of in-service training on a range of topics every year.  All officers are also required to receive firearms training every year to include 8 hours of class time, 8 hours of range time to demonstrate the officer’s maintenance of skills and abilities to safely and effectively handle firearms, and completion of a combat course that includes computer simulations of real life situations.  This means that every sworn officer must complete a total of 42 hours of training a year.
           
Each new Deputy, having completed an extensive Basic law Enforcement Training Program through the Community College System, must then successfully complete a 462 hour Field Training Program or F.T.O.   The F.T.O. program consists of placing the new deputy with an experienced Deputy for on-the-job training.  The Deputies that are assigned this very important duty are specially trained at the North Carolina Justice Academy to be an F.T.O. and usually have years of experience.
           
The purpose of the F.T.O. program is not only to give the trainee or “rookie” additional instruction but also to monitor his or her attitudes, skills, and behaviors in an effort to weed out unsuitable officers.  No Deputy is ever allowed to conduct enforcement activities until he or she has successfully completed an F.T.O. program.  Even officers coming to the department with years of experience must complete an abbreviated F.T.O. program.  This greatly enhances the integrity of the Department and inspires the public trust in their Sheriff’s Department.
           
Governors Highway Safety Campaign Initiatives

Each year in nearly 50,000 people dies on America’s highways.  Approximately half of those fatal accidents are alcohol related.  Driving while impaired is a problem in Haywood County just as it is in every other community. 

The need has become apparent that attention needs be given to traffic enforcement in rural communities. In Haywood County, the Sheriff’s Office has become an active participant in the various Governor Highway Safety Programs such as “Booze-It and Loose It”, “Child Passenger Safety Week”, “Operation Slow Down”, and “Click It and Ticket”.

Often, these programs can be used to address other community concerns, as well. If there are numerous complaints from a particular neighborhood about drug activity or break-ins, a license checkpoint can greatly curtail these activities.  During the “Booze It and Loose It” Campaign in December of 2007 a very successful checkpoint was conducted in the Cruso area.  This area was selected because of a number of complaints from Cruso residents about property crimes that had recently occurred.