(Editor’s note: The Journal-Record reached out recently to all the police departments in the county, as well as the sheriff’s department, to obtain end-of-the-year reports for 2025. We are grateful to all the police chiefs and sheriff Kevin Williams for allowing us to print this information, as well as each law enforcement official sharing a few words on their departments to go with the statistics.
This project is ongoing, and we will continue to print each city’s report as it becomes available.
When reading some of Hamilton Police Chief Jordan Carter’s remarks in his operations overview for the year, we realized several similarities between his department and all the others in the county, as far as the wide roles officers perform in each city and town.
We cordially requested Chief Carter to allow us to print some of his statements in this editorial space, hoping our readers will realize the great importance our law enforcement personnel are to the safety and well-being of our communities.
We sometimes don’t realize everything they do to protect us and our families. But we do sincerely appreciate them all. And we are glad to be able to share some of the comments one chief made about his officers, which we feel may well represent all of the top law enforcement officials viewpoints of their own departments.)
“Besides their many other duties, our officers also protect and assist the many travelers who pass through our community each day via Interstate 22,” HPD Chief Carter noted.
“Many of these motorists exit the interstate to visit and support our businesses, which brings economic benefits to our city, but also introduces a different set of public safety challenges. These challenges include increased traffic volume, a higher number of traffic crashes and, unfortunately at times, criminal activity.”
The chief explained, in addition to routine patrol and investigative work, his officers also routinely provides assistance to other agencies.
“This includes the deployment of our K-9 officer and our certified drone operator,” he said. “These specialized resources are used both within our city and in agency assist situations with neighboring jurisdictions.”
The chief also spoke on the importance of training, which included more than a thousand hours each of basic and advanced training for his officers (1,042-advanced; 1,120-basic).
“Training is another major component of what we do,” he said. “In 2025, our officers completed a significant amount of both basic and advanced training, not including in-house training.
“This training is required to meet state standards, maintain certifications and ensure officers are prepared to operate specialized equipment and fulfill specialized roles.
“Many of our officers hold specialized certifications and credentials that allow the department to respond to a wide range of situations.”
The chief noted these include field training officers, who are responsible for mentoring and evaluating new officers; a firearms instructor, who maintains department-wide weapons proficiency and safety standards; and crisis intervention team officers, who are trained to respond to calls involving mental health concerns.
“We also have officers certified as K-9 handlers, a UAS (drone) pilot and tactical operators,” he said. “We also have a dual-certified firefighter/police officer, evidence technicians, interview and interrogation specialists, drug recognition experts, traffic homicide investigators and hazmat-certified personnel trained in clandestine lab cleanup.”
Carter also mentioned, in today’s policing environment, patrol officers and investigators must keep pace with ever-evolving technology related to criminal investigations, including digital evidence, forgery and financial crimes, sex-related offenses and legally complex search warrant processes, such as technology-based search warrants and DUI blood warrants.
“Ensuring these investigations are thorough and lawful is essential to protecting rights and securing convictions in a court of law,” he said.
“Equally important are our police clerks and administrative staff, who are constantly in contact with multiple court jurisdictions, managing reports, warrants, subpoenas, records requests and sharing critical information with partnering law enforcement agencies.
“Their work ensures cases move forward efficiently and accurately through the judicial system.”
See complete story in the Journal Record.
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