Successful Practices & Strategies Vol. 1 | No. 3

Galax Police Department

Galax, Virginia

https://www.facebook.com/GalaxPD

Community policing element

Organizational change

Problem/issue

Using information and intelligence in policing

Problem description

The Galax Police Department (GPD) by definition is a rural agency (24 sworn members) with limited 

resources to fund the increased demand for police services. There was an obvious need to become more 

efficient. 

There are 16 members assigned to uniform patrol; at any given time, eight are assigned to work, and 

eight are off duty. A separation was created that caused voids in information and a lack of continuity in 

efforts. The GPD realized that it was collecting large amounts of data that were not being used. 

Consistently, the crime rate per 100,000 populations caused the GPD to be ranked in the top 10 crime 

rates year after year in Virginia; the GPD was consistently higher than metropolitan areas of Virginia 

(e.g., Richmond and Virginia Beach). The GPD had efforts to implement a data-driven model of policing 

without success. The GPD continued to be reactive.

Community policing strategies implemented

The city was split into three geographical areas based on call volume and reported crimes and not size. 

One member of each shift became responsible for that geographic area and was encouraged to “think 

outside the box.” Bicycle patrols were expanded from the downtown area into the three zones. Citizen 

interaction became a priority both in the residential and business communities. The GPD implemented a 

SARA model of problem solving into field training to familiarize new hires with the process. Officers 

were encouraged to work in teams within their zones to target problems.

Change and/or impact as a result of these community policing efforts

In fiscal year 2012, the GPD was funded by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services to design 

and implement a model of intelligence-led policing that was replicable in like-sized agencies. The 

program, while not funded by the COPS Office, is federally funded by Edward Byrne Memorial Justice 

Assistance Grant funds passed through to Virginia. 
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In recent years, the GPD implemented the following changes:

• The GPD became very transparent through the use of social media. Its Facebook page became a

platform for sharing information with the community. The GPD quickly discovered that

Facebook was an efficient way to quickly share information about crime, community events, and

anything of interest. In a community of approximately 7,000 people, it is not unusual to reach

more than 4,000 people with a post. An unexpected benefit was the number of Facebook

messages we receive from people who would not call the police. The calls range from requests

for information to crime information that has resulted in solving crimes and recovery of stolen

property.

• The GPD examines calls for service and reported crime on a daily basis. It sends each member of

the police department intelligence bulletins via e-mail as often as needed.

• The GPD placed a new emphasis on documentation of police-citizen interaction, requiring

documentation in “Terry Stops,” which are tracked.

• The GPD’s volume of crime doesn’t support a CompStat model with weekly meetings. In lieu of

that, a detective meets with each shift at least every six weeks to discuss crime trends and

hotspots.

• Each member of the GPD gets a daily electronic roll call bulletin via e-mail that summarizes

activity in 72-hour increments.

• Shift sergeants were given autonomy to change staffing levels and work hours based on their

observations without approval of command staff to address perceived needs in each individual

zone.

• The GPD stresses the importance of not placing knowledge into a “silo” but rather sharing that

information among the agency and its adjoining jurisdictions.

The following are a result to the above changes: 

• The GPD strives to make every decision based on the best available information. In the first year

of the project, the GPD reported a 14% decrease in crimes against a person. In 2013, the GPD

experienced an 8% reduction in reported crime.

• The GPD deploys resources to address traffic enforcement with an emphasis on high visibility.

When compared to 2012, traffic accidents in 2013 decreased 18%, and accidents with injury

decreased 43%.

• The community has benefited from the program.
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Lessons learned through program implementation

One of the biggest lessons that the chief of police learned was that he was making this project too 

complex. The GPD is not New York. While The GPD has many of the same issues, its volume of demand 

for services does not support New York’s model of intelligence-led policing. The GPD adapted CompStat

to its size and economic resources. The only real major expense was procurement of a software package 

and the continued support for that product. The current yearly assessment is less than $2,000 to provide 

the software support.

Transparency is not a bad thing; the community as a whole is interested in what’s happening and 

willing to help. Thus, the GPD constantly develops investigative leads by posting information and asking 

for help.

Members of the GPD have been receptive to the increased flow of information; the generation of police 

officers the GPD employs thrives on the flow of information and having it readily available. 

The GPD is solving cases because of the availability of information. Two years ago, a police officer would 

not have been able to query a database and discover who was in the area of a burglary or larceny; now 

they can.

Funding is not an excuse; the zone designations were made using Excel and extracted information 

from our RMS database. A 911 staff member with Excel expertise assisted with placing the data into a 

useable format.

Visibility in a community is important. The GPD implemented a fuel saving strategy twice in the past two 

years. The strategy was a trainee’s problem-solving project that was brilliantly simple. His project was 

parking an unmanned, marked police cruiser in a conspicuously visible location while the officer who 

would be driving it either used a bike to patrol or doubled up in a second vehicle. The visibility has 

measurably affected crime, complaints, and traffic problems.

If you believe in the SARA model, the assessment phase is critically important. If a response is not 

working, egos can’t get in the way. Everyone has to be willing to drop back to analyses and response 

until the GPD start making a difference.

The opinions contained herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice. References to specific agencies, companies, products, or services should not be considered an 

endorsement by the author(s) or the U.S. Department of Justice. Rather, the references are illustrations to supplement 

discussion of the issues. 

The Internet references cited in this document were valid as of the date of publication. Given that URLs and websites are in 

constant flux, neither the author(s) nor the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services can vouch for their current validity. 

Published 2014