Gaston County Police Department

The Community Policing Division is composed primarily of uniformed officers and is responsible for controlling and preventing crime through regular patrols, answering calls for service, apprehending suspected offenders, enforcing criminal and traffic laws, conducting preliminary investigations, and working with the community to solve neighborhood crime problems. The division is overseen by an assistant chief. The officers are assigned to one of four geographical areas (known as zones), each of which is commanded by a captain. The officers assigned to each zone are further divided into squads (supervised by a sergeant) that cover rotating 12-hour shifts. The four patrol zones are:

• Zone 1 - the northwestern part of Gaston County, covering an area of 100 square miles (260 km²) with a population of over 20,000 residents.
• Zone 2 - the northeastern part of the County, covering 97 sq mi (250 km²) with more than 30,000 residents.
• Zone 3 - the southern unincorporated areas of Gaston County, covering over 75 sq mi (190 km²) with nearly 28,000 residents.

The Community Policing Division also has two specialized patrol units: the K-9 Unit and the Marine Enforcement Unit. The K-9 Unit consists of six handler and dog teams responsible for responding to crimes in progress, performing street-level drug interdiction, and assisting all divisions of the Department (as well as other agencies in the county and surrounding counties) by conducting specialized searches with trained law enforcement dogs. The searches include searches of houses and vehicles for illegal drugs, searches of buildings for suspects, and area searches for evidence and tracks of subjects that have run in an attempt to elude arrest.

The Marine Enforcement Unit operates on a seasonal basis from June until October at Lake Wylie and Mountain Island Lake. It is responsible of enforcing boating laws, conducting boating safety inspections, removing navigational hazards, answering calls for service, enforcing shoreline laws, and providing assistance to boaters and other governmental agencies. The unit consists of four full-time and three part-time officers, and uses a 22-foot boat and two jet-skis for patrol.[3]

The Investigative and Support Services Division, overseen by an assistant chief, is composed of several specialized units:

• The Criminal Investigations Unit is responsible for the investigation of homicides and other major felony offenses, select misdemeanors, missing persons, unattended deaths, offenses involving juveniles, and the processing of evidence. It also includes the Crime Scene Search Unit and the Property and Evidence Unit, which is responsible for the storage and maintenance of all items collected by the Department during criminal investigations.
• The Special Investigations Unit is primarily responsible for narcotics investigations, but is also charged with investigating gambling, illegal alcohol, and prostitution offenses.
• The Support Services Unit includes educational services (which provides student resource officers to Gaston County schools), employee development (responsible for employee training), recruitment and selection (which handles all aspects of the hiring process), accreditation (which is responsible for maintaining all necessary information to maintain compliance with accreditation standards), police information processing (primarily responsible for maintaining the department's records), and the victim and witness coordinator (who provides assistance to victims and witnesses of crimes and traumatic incidents).
• The Emergency Response Team is a group of highly trained officers available 24 hours a day to respond to critical and high risk incidents. They also supports other law enforcement agencies in Gaston and neighboring counties when requested. The team is divided into three subteams: negotiators, marksman–observers, and tactical entry.
• The Hazardous Devices Team is a four-member team recognized by the FBI and National Bomb Squad Advisory Board as an accredited bomb squad.[3]

The Communications Division is a multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional dispatch center providing 24-hour coverage of emergency 911 calls and radio transmissions for Gaston County. It is composed of 53 employees led by a director. The unit is charged with maintaining and operating the computer-aided dispatch system for police, fire, and medical calls, as well as receiving both emergency and non-emergency calls for service.

The Animal Care and Enforcement Division is responsible for enforcing animal-related North Carolina laws and Gaston County ordinances. It is meant to protect county citizens from dangerous animals and to ensure the proper care and treatment of animals. The animal shelter is led by an administrator and the enforcement side is led by a police captain. The Unit is composed of 22 employees including both sworn and non-sworn personnel.