Backgrounds, Public Information Officer, Crime Prevention
Detective James Gates began his career as a patrol officer with the Chesterfield Police Department on April 1st, 1999. He was promoted to Detective on November 30th, 1999.
Detective Gates joined Chesterfield upon retiring from the Detroit Police Department as a Sergeant with 29 years of service under his belt. He had 10 years of Internal Affairs investigative experience there and he was the liaison to the F.B.I. - Public Corruption Unit.
Detective Gates is responsible for three critical functions in the Police Department which include background investigations of new Police and Fire Department candidates, crime prevention and as the public information officer for the Department.
As the Department's background investigator, Detective Gates is responsible for the investigations of those candidates who hope to join the ranks of the Police Department. This involves numerous personal interviews with neighbors, employers, educators, friends, acquaintances, creditors, landlords and the applicant; searching data banks from the Federal, State and local law-enforcement agencies, the military and the Secretary of State; and, verifying records, certificates, and degrees.
In his responsibility for crime prevention, he assists the Chief in presenting information to homeowners' groups, commercial businesses and industry in an effort to prevent crime before it occurs. One of those anti-crime measures involves chemical etching of Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN) on vehicle windows to prevent them from being re-used by chop shops and thus make them less attractive to thieves.
Finally, Detective Gates co-ordinates all Departmental activities with the media. This includes preparing press releases for the Chief of Police; co-coordinating news conferences; responding to in-progress news worthy incidents to coordinate media inquiries and to prevent interference of the police operation; researching specific questions by reporters for stories with a historical or statistical perspective; and, generally helping to open the operations of the police department to the public through the news and press agencies.
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