Looking back on 2012 for the Sulphur Police Department, Chief Lewis Coats said he “inherited a gold mine,” when he took his
post to lead the department.
Coats completed his first year leading the department in November. He was sworn in Nov. 22, 2011 when the 180-day term of
provisional Chief Mel Estess expired.
Estess filled in when Chief Chris Abrahams was demoted to captain for violating civil service law.
“Honestly, I didn’t face any real big
challenges with the department because the Sulphur Police Department was
a great department
when I became chief,” Coats told the
on Wednesday. “It was a functioning department when I started. Everyone
had a job and they did, and still do, their jobs
to the best of their abilities. I really did just inherit a gold
mine and I’m just trying to fill the shoes of previous administrators
who were here. It’s because of them and what they put in place
that my job has been made a lot easier.”
Coats said a challenge department-wide has been being short-handed, but the City Council’s approval to amend the city’s budget
will allow for the hiring of three police officer this year.
“While being short-handed has been a
challenge, everyone has really stepped up from administration on down to
fill the gaps,”
he said. “Everyone works hard to prevent crime and when a crime is
committed and we are having to react everyone works hard
to solve that crime and make an arrest.”
Coats said some accomplishments made by
the department in Sulphur are the crack-down on the number of meth
labs; the department’s
work also helped clear by arrest 100 percent of the robberies
committed at local financial institutions.
He said initially the police department saw a “large number” of meth labs, but due to officer training, the department was
able to stay on top of the problem.
“We train our officers to recognize
what the precursors of meth labs are and it has really proven to work
for us so we will
continue doing that and educating officers,” he said. “Criminals
are always finding new ways to make meth labs and new products
to use, so we make sure that officers are educated and trained to
recognize these things so that we can stay on top of the
problem.”
Coats said another accomplishment for the department is ending the year with no cases of robberies of a financial institution
left unsolved.
“I am proud to say that all of the
robbery cases we had at financial institutions have been solved through
efforts of the
department working with local law enforcement agencies, state
agencies and federal agencies,” he said. “We have cleared and
solved every one of those. We were able to identify the persons
involved and make arrests.”
Coats said there were about six robberies of financial institutions in Sulphur in 2012.
Under Coats, the department also staffed its evidence division, which was neglected, with two officers.
“The two officers I have put in that division are learning every day; they are expanding their knowledge and skills,” he said.
“They are really assisting the detective and investigative divisions in collecting evidence.”
Coats said before the evidence division was staffed, detectives had to collect evidence themselves and conduct an investigation.
“This cuts their jobs in half and frees them up to focus on an investigation,” he added.
Coats said two of his main goals for 2013 are to have the department interact more with the public and see construction begin
on a training facility.
He said previous administrators and city mayors allowed the department to set aside money for a training facility to be built
and used by the police department.
“Mayor (Chris) Duncan and the City
Council members are actively looking for property to make that happen,”
Coats said. “This
year, I am hoping that we can move forward with that idea and
those plans and actually start construction on a facility. It
will greatly benefit us as well as the residents.”
Coats said with his effort to have the department in the public interacting more he hopes to maintain respect from residents
as well as keep them informed of what the department is doing.
“The residents of Sulphur should feel
safe because we really do have a great department,” he said. “We have a
great city administration
from the mayor all the way down.”