Somerset Police Department
PICTURED ABOVE
The Somerset Police Department servers a vibrant community in Pulaski County in southeastern Kentucky. Pictured above, back row from left, Detective Justin Creech, Detective Larry Patterson and Officer Jordan Wesley. Front row, from left, Capt. Josh Wesley, Officer Danielle Strickland and Police Chief William Hunt. In the background is a mural of former SPD officers from the 1950s. (Photo by Jim Robertson)
Located a stone’s throw away from Lake Cumberland, Somerset is a flourishing community in the heart of Pulaski County in southeastern Kentucky.
Given its proximity to Lake Cumberland, which sees millions of visitors between Memorial Day and Labor Day, the city is home to numerous events and festivals, and the Somerset Police Department is right in the middle of the action.
“There are 160-170 community events per year,” Capt. Josh Wesley said. “Not all of them are massive events, but we are there if they want the police there.”
It’s that connection with the community that makes working for SPD special.
“We’re involved in so many events, and we’re so personable with our community that we have a great level of trust,” Wesley continued. “I think you could probably approach anyone who has lived in Somerset for three or four years, and I’d be willing the bet that they know one of our officers. They feel like they have that connection where they can reach out and ask a question.”
Citizen’s Advisory Committee
To foster better relationships and provide more transparency, SPD initiated a Citizen’s Advisory Committee in 2014, and it has reaped great rewards, Chief William Hunt said.
Somerset Police Chief William Hunt (Photo by Jim Robertson)
“It’s made up of citizens throughout the community who serve as liaisons between the police and the community,” Hunt explained. “It’s a board of citizens who volunteer. The board is made up of different demographics within the community. We have representatives from large and small businesses, education, medical, tourism, and faith-based organizations.”
The current board membership sits at 16, and the topics discussed include everything from crime prevention to police community involvement, the chief said.
“Examples (of crime prevention programs) would be our Shepherds Watch Program and Operational Awareness,” Hunt added. “We spoke to the board about these programs. If we had gotten a lot of push back from them, we would have assumed this was probably something the community doesn’t want or doesn’t believe in, so we probably shouldn’t do it. But we got great buy-in from them.”
The Shepherd’s Watch program helped SPD create a database of surveillance cameras (including doorbell cameras) in each neighborhood. This was birthed from a murder investigation SPD worked about six years ago.
“It was an elderly lady murdered in a church building,” Hunt said. “During the investigation, we had every agency in our area helping with this case, so we had a lot of investigators out trying to track down surveillance cameras from nearby buildings. Ultimately, we were able to track down a suspect leaving Somerset, but there were countless hours leading to that to get that information.”
The case led to the creation of the database that allows law enforcement to know where the surveillance cameras are in the community.
“It is a crime prevention tool,” Hunt stressed. “We give residents and businesses a yard sign and window sticker to display, like what alarm companies give their customers. It lets would-be criminals know that cameras are here, and they’re being watched. It allows our detectives and investigators to access this database and type in a street name, and the database will show where the nearest cameras are in that area. It gives us a leg up on the investigation right off the bat.”
(Photo by Jim Robertson)
The Operational Awareness program involves putting a speed sign in areas where reports of speeders are reported, Wesley said.
“The goal is to create awareness, reduce accidents and reduce fatalities,” he continued. “From what we’ve seen in our statistics, the program works. We have an intersection on State Highway 914 with more serious accidents and fatalities. We put the sign there and left it out for about a month, and it collects data – recording speeds, traffic volume, and so forth. After a period, you can put it in what I call opossum mode, and the screen goes black, but it is still collecting the data.”
Social Media
Another way SPD connects with the community is through its robust social media presence. SPD uses three social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) to keep its citizens informed and, at times, entertained, Capt. Mike Correll said.
“We like to use our social media for a positive presence more than just a crime-fighting tool,” Correll explained.
SPD is on top of it when it comes to keeping the community updated on important events – active police scenes, road closures caused by accidents, etc.
“It’s a combination of proactive and reactive,” Hunt said. “If it is something that we do want to be announced and get ahead of, or if it is something the community wants to know about, we try to get ahead of it.”
Correll added a popular feature across all of SPD’s social media platforms is road conditions.
“Most people want to know what the roads are like during winter weather,” he explained. “Our third shift officers, as it gets closer to first shift hours, take photos of side streets, state highways and a major highway. We post them to let people know what the road conditions are like.”
Capt. Josh Wesley speaks to Officer Jordan Wesley before he heads out on patrol. (Photo by Jim Robertson)
But it is not all about crime prevention and traffic updates, Correll added, with a grin.
SPD gets creative during the Christmas season and provides a bit of levity with videos it posts.
“We’ve arrested the Grinch two years in a row,” he said. “(The Grinch) went along with officers to pass out gifts while learning the meaning of Christmas.
“The Grinch gets in trouble, and he must learn the meaning of Christmas, and during these home visits, we give the gifts to the Grinch who passes them out,” Correll continued. “We’ll be the first ones to admit that (the videos) are a little cheesy and a little slapstick, but that is what we want people to see. It humanizes the police, and that’s huge. We’re not Robocops. We enjoy interacting with the community and children. It allows people to see us as human beings.”
“Between Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, we had more than 70,000 views of the videos,” Correll said.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, SPD coordinated with all first responder agencies in Pulaski County to create a video to honor the staff at Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital.
“We invited all the first responders in our county to the hospital garage and paraded around the hospital showing support to hospital personnel, letting them know they are greatly appreciated,” Correll said. “It was filmed with a drone, and we had some good shots of the event. It got over 2 million views across the three platforms.”
The video became a hit, locally and internationally, Hunt said.
“The White House also (shared the video), as did ABC and CNN,” Hunt said. “That wasn’t the intent. It was just a byproduct of it. It was surprising.”
Crime Rates
The solid rapport SPD enjoys with the community has helped keep Somerset a safe place to live. Wesley said most of the crime SPD deals with is non-violent.
“It’s mostly petty thefts and drug-related crimes,” he explained. “We don’t have much of an issue with violent crimes. If we do, it’s a statistical anomaly. They happen here and there, but it’s not a trend that you can follow.
“We have had an increase in homeless population, and they wander at all hours of the night pulling on door handles,” Wesley continued. “We also see metal thefts, catalytic converters, copper thefts – it’s the low-hanging fruit that is easy to get. Most of it is to fuel a drug habit.”
When a Part I crime – rape, murder, assault – occurs, Hunt said the Pulaski County Major Crimes Task Force serves as a valuable tool.
“If we have a major crime – rape, murder, those types of things – the Somerset Police Department, Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office and Kentucky State Police all come together to help each other out,” Hunt said. “All the entities have agreed to provide their resources such as detectives to come together to solve the crime.”
Proactive Policing
Hunt also said proactive policing had gone a long way in fostering positive community trust with residents and business owners alike.
“It can be as simple as putting out reminders on social media to lock doors and don’t leave high-value items out in the open,” he said. “I know it’s old school, but we still do business checks on third shift. We have door hangers we leave when we respond to business alarms. If we cannot find a keyholder when an alarm goes off, we will leave the door hanger, and it has basic information. We want them to know that we were there, and we also want them to know that they weren’t there when we called for a keyholder.”
It’s all about police viability no matter the time of day, Wesley pointed out.
“We try to be visible in every neighborhood, and people see that,” Wesley said.
(Photo by Jim Robertson)
