Chief Moore discusses EPD at Rotary Club

Enterprise Police Chief Michael Moore stopped by the Enterprise Rotary Club on June 22 to give an update on the police department.

Moore – who is a 23-year EPD veteran – was selected as the successor to former Chief TD Jones back in March and the California native said that being a police officer was all he ever wanted to do. Moore said that his mother, stepfather and brother worked in the prison system in California and his uncle was a highway patrolman who worked in narcotics and even went undercover.

“Ever since I was old enough to remember I wanted to be a police officer,” Moore said. “I have a picture of (my uncle) him with a beard out to here working undercover with the Hell’s Angels. I remember seeing that and thinking that that’s what I want to do with my life.”

Moore said that being a police officer is a calling but it’s getting harder and harder to recruit new, qualified candidates or lure officers from other departments to Enterprise because of a number of factors.

“The city is growing at a very rapid pace and so should the police department,” Moore said. “One of the difficulties in law enforcement is finding good candidates that want to do the job and are willing to go through the process required to be a police officer.

“Although I know differently, the current media likes to make law enforcement out to be the bad guys. Why would anyone want to go through a year process just to become a certified police officer, much less spend a career, being ridiculed, rejected and verbally humiliated on every major television (network) or by every ‘social media legal expert.’ This is what we deal with. Everyone has a better idea on how to be a cop than actual police officers.”

Moore said that he believes social media and the national media have combined to make the everyday citizen believe police are bad guys.

“On social media everyone is smarter than the police and no one seems to like the police,” Moore said. “The media says police cause more deaths than diseases in the world. You turn on any national news and (they say) we’re killing people left and right, which is just not true.”

Moore also said that the way society treats young people compared to police officers also leads to some of the recruitment issues.

“Society expects less out of children and demands more out of public servants,” Moore emphasized. “Where do you think we get our public servants from? The kids of today have to do less and less work and have less and less expected of them, but eventually those kids will be called on to be public servants.”

Moore also pointed to police pay as being a big issue in not only recruitment but retaining of current officers and being unable to lure qualified officers from other departments.

“It’s not that I’m saying the pay is horrible, it’s not, but is it enough to take other high quality candidates away from other departments?” Moore asked. “Every department is after the same people. We lost three last year to the state troopers.”

Moore said that he saw a representative for the state troopers and jokingly told him to stop taking his officers and the trooper responded that they would stop taking them if EPD stopped having such good officers.

“I pride myself on that. That’s great but how can I take from other departments like that,” Moore said. “You have to make it appetizing to come to Enterprise. Is (the pay) high enough to make qualified candidates leave the private sector? If you’re making $18 or $19 per hour throwing food on shelves or trucks at the WalMart (distribution center) in Brundidge why would you want to come and get ridiculed or harassed as a police officer (for less)?”

Moore said that Enterprise sets its standards high for police officers, which is not something he wants to change.

“When I’m hunting officers we set our standards very high but I think that is what Enterprise needs,” he said. “We don’t need to lessen our standards so that we make a quota to get (more) officers on the street. That causes issues in the future.”

Moore pointed to an example of what lowering standards can lead to. He said that a police officer in a past year was terminated from EPD and couldn’t get rehired in Alabama and couldn’t get hired in Florida, but a department in Tennessee hired him despite the City of Enterprise informing them of his past issues.

“A buddy (of mine) sent me a news article where he pulled someone over in his personal vehicle and pulled them out of their car with his department-issued pistol for no other reason than road rage,” Moore said. “Now, he’s been charged with numerous charges. That’s the type of thing we try to prevent.”

Moore said that the hiring of more quality officers to meet the growing needs of the city is his primary goal but he also wants his officers to have more community involvement, too. That’s where Enterprise residents come into play.

“Man-power and ensuring that we have adequate officers to support the City of Enterprise is my primary goal,” he emphasized. “Without the basics being covered other goals cannot be accomplished.

“I think we need to get back to having more community involvement with our officers. Whether that be ‘Coffee with a Cop’ or ‘Pizza with a Cop’ or ‘Talking with a Cop’ or whatever it may be, I’m okay with our officers just walking down the street and talking with people because they’re still doing their job. I can’t tell you how much information has been gained when our officers just get out and talk to people, but I have to give them the opportunity and afford them the opportunity to do that. If they’re catching calls left and right they can’t engage with the community, so it comes down to the community.”

Moore pointed to support from the community as something that is paramount for police officers.

“Citizens must support their police and show their support for the police officers that work to keep the city safe,” he said. “Support does not mean you have to agree with everything that is being done.

“Supporting officers means you recognize that you may not agree with their decision or action or you just simply don’t understand all the facts, but are willing to discuss it further to come to an understanding. Imagine what would happen if instead of getting on social media and bashing someone you actually contact that (officer) and simply ask why. Sometimes support is not having conversations with that officer you disagree with but talk to a supervisor, captain or chief to better understand the decision.”

Moore also said that he asks for understanding from the community.

“Support is action, not words,” Moore said. “Support us by attempting to understand what we go through and having empathy towards the actions we have to take.

“It is not abnormal that officers are required to deal with a domestic violence situation, a death, child abuse, rape and then jump to the next call for a VIN verification or a dog complaint all in the same day while showing very little emotion just to be able to get through the day.”