Law enforcement agencies join forces

Last week, the Auburn City Council voted to approve an agreement that would allow the Auburn Police to share resources with Gwinnett law enforcement agencies.

Each participating agency has identified areas in which it can provide assistance to other agencies in times of need.

Auburn Chief of Police Fred Brown said the agreement should benefit everyone involved.

“For exerting the effort to help each other out, it’s going to help the citizens with better service and will probably result in a cost-savings because you don’t have to go out and hire specialized people,” Brown said.

Brown said the agreement will allow his department to seek aid from larger Gwinnett agencies in the event his department needs help investigating a major crime scene or traffic incident. Auburn Police will also be able to request a SWAT team or other specialized personnel if the situation arises.

“In an emergency situation, if we become over-taxed, we can call on those agencies for different types of resources,” he said.

Under the new agreement, the Auburn Police Department will be responsible for assembling a language task force. The task force will poll other agencies to identify bilingual law enforcement personnel. If another agency needs an officer that speaks a certain language, the Auburn Police Department will locate the appropriate personnel.

While Auburn and other law enforcement agencies participate in a statewide mutual aid agreement, the new resource sharing agreement will not be limited to major disasters.

Brown said dwindling tax dollars resulted in a need to pool resources.

Since part of Auburn is located within Gwinnett County, the Auburn Police Department was eligible to participate in the resource sharing agreement.

The service is provided at no cost to the city or the county. Each agency agrees to absorb its own costs. The idea behind the plan is that the services rendered will be repaid over time with services received from other agencies.

Brown has discussed a similar agreement with Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith. So far, no agreement has been reached.