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Savannah Police Community Service Specialists - Making a Difference

The Community Service Specialists or CSS have made a significant impact in the efficiency of the Savannah Police Department, especially as it regards responding to calls for service and man-hour savings for patrol officers riding more serious calls.

Early in 2001, SPD and the City of Savannah received a U S Justice Department Community-Oriented Policing grant to fund the hiring and training of six Community Service Specialists. These CSS's have been trained to handle non-violent police service calls that do not require sworn police officers. The CSS's do not have arrest powers, nor are they be armed, but they do handle a wide variety of police calls that require reports and other time consuming public service functions.

In this year alone, (January-July) the CSS' have responded to 3119 calls for service, written 1737 police reports, and saved more than 2273 police man-hours (or slightly more than 94 days) which before would have required a police officer's attention.

On more than one occasion, the CSS' have served as alert eyes and ears to events happening on our city's streets which required direct attention. Shortly after they began patrols, CSS Addie Beasley spotted a house fire. Her immediate radio calls allowed for an expedited response from fire and emergency personnel, and directly led to those lives being saved. On another occasion, a CSS spotted a shoplifter fleeing from security guards near the Oglethorpe Mall. Her radio calls directed officers to the suspect, resulting in a quick arrest. Recently David Leonard, one of our original CSS, applied and attended the police academy and has now been sworn in as a Savannah Police Officer.

The program was originally designed to improve response times and free up sworn officers to focus more on crime and criminals. Savannah Police' six CSS members function out of the city's four precincts, responding to calls in every community.