- Police leadership says building trust starts with relationships, consistent engagement, and transparency.
- The annual public inspection, a Thomasville tradition for over 40 years, is one way the department aims to connect with residents.
- Watch the video to see what neighbors want to see change to help grow trust within the community.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Only 51% of Americans say they trust the police — that's according to the latest survey by Gallup.
I'm taking a closer look at what that relationship with police really looks like here in Thomasville and what the department is doing to make it stronger.
Trust doesn't happen overnight, it's something you have to build.
And the Thomasville Police Department says one way they're working on that is by showing up and inviting the community to the annual police inspection.
"I see it as an opportunity to showcase our department and what we're involved with and what we do, all the officers, and it provides an opportunity for citizens to get to know our officers," said Chief Glover.
But one neighbor I spoke with says showing up is just the start — building real trust takes more.
"They need to get out and do more. And not just park and try to catch somebody, you know, with no insurance. And which is good to do. I know I do. But they need to focus on the major crime in this town. And in the minority, there's plenty of it. There's plenty of it. Because they know that police aren't going to call them when you call them," said Nancy Vickers, Thomasville neighborhood.
Vickers says what's needed is more consistent presence — especially in Black neighborhoods, where residents want to feel just as seen and protected as anywhere else in Thomasville.
"If we're going to get a hand on the crime in our neighborhoods, then there needs to be some more patrolling done. You know, and for someone to come up on somebody's porch while they're in the house asleep, that's scary. And it happened more than once. So I did tell the police chief, now he was good about calling me back. And he told me that he'll try to help more, you know. But he said, you know, he would try to help. And I respect him for that." said Vickers
Vickers also raised concerns about how Black residents are spoken to and how their issues are handled — and she says social media has captured some of those interactions.
"When you put a video on Facebook or whatever that social media website is, it doesn't always tell the true story and the facts. So we investigate all those things, and then we put our story back out there to make sure we're doing the right thing. Are we perfect? No, we're not. Nobody is. So what we do is we make sure that if something went awry, one of our officers did something that was maybe a little bit unorthodox or not trained properly or whatever, we go back in and we make sure we handle that, we retrain, and we let our people know that complaining about that, we're transparent. We have nothing to hide. We're going to do what we need to do to maintain that trust," said Chief Glover.
Chief Glover says if something does go wrong, the best thing to do is file a complaint through CrimeWatch but Vickers says what matters most is that the department follows up afterward.
"You know, get back with them, follow up, let them know. You know, this is what's being done…," said Vickers
This year's police inspection is happening this Thursday at the intersection of Jackson and Crawford Streets at 5:30 p.m. and will be followed by a candlelight vigil and ceremony in the auditorium in memory of our nation's fallen officers.
Upcoming community engagements with the Thomasville Police Department:
- Thomasville Police Command Inspection
- Girl Scouts event
- Georgia Pines Mental Health Initiative
- Peanut butter drive with Thomas County CARES
Want to see more local news? Visit the WTXL ABC 27 Website.
Stay in touch with us anywhere, anytime.
