A. Keith Morton
Chief of Police
Contact Info:
300 N Main St
Fountain Inn, South Carolina 29644
(864)862-4461
E-mail: keith.morton@fountaininn.org
Our Mission: We strive for no less than excellence in all we do.
- For every person, protection and service
- For every circumstance, fairness, respect, and understanding
- For every accomplishment, gratitude and opportunity
- For every endeavor, teamwork, and professionalism
- For every day, integrity, efficiency, and the Golden Rule (akm - 1996)
The Fountain Inn Police Department is comprised of 29 employees. We have 22 certified full-time Police Officers and 3 additional unpaid Reserve Officers, 5 Communications Specialists, 1 Records Clerk and 1 Administrative Assistant. The Uniform Commander is Captain Michael "Mike" Hamilton who is the "Acting" Chief of Police in his absence. The Investigations Division is under the supervision of Lieutenant Robert "Bobby" Nelson. We all proudly serve our community with a number of pro-active programs. These programs include:
The Community Patrol Division (CPD) offers a free 3 week Summer Camp for at risk and less privileged children. These camps serve as a communication vehicle with our youth to inform them we are an ally. We see this as an opportunity to change their perception from someone to fear to someone who they can come to for assistance with any problem. To date we have had approximately 700 children have participated in this program.
The CPD also teaches Community Officer Drug Education (CODE) to all 5th Grade students. This is an innovative program that teaches valuable life skills. The curriculum includes drug and alcohol education, encourages saying "No" to cheating, theft, lying and bullying. They are required to do a number of homework assignments. The graduates of the program receive recognition awards upon successfully completing all our requirements. The awards are presented at the annual CODE Dance. To date we have proximately 3, 000 CODE graduates.
We also place focus on team building and life enhancing skills. We offer a program for Seniors in our community. The Senior Watch program participants receive phone calls and visits from our employees. We also remember them on birthdays, holidays and change their smoke detector/carbon monoxide detector annually. We feel that they have given so much to our community that the least we can do is honor them in this small way.
All of these programs are funded with monies raised from our calendar sales and annual golf tournament. Because of the programs success we have also begun to receive donations/grants from area businesses. Tax revenues are not used to offer these important programs, but the City supports and benefits from them. To date we have raised over $200,000.00 in the first 6 years of the programs, the Community Patrol Officers salaries were paid via grant monies. Those grant were available at that time through the Department of Justice (DOJ) and totaled over $250,000.00.
We have the latest technology in all of our patrol vehicles. Every call an officer answers is documented using state of the art video/audio camera systems. This affords us the opportunity to not only use the information acquired for their evidentiary value but also as an administrative tool. We periodically check the officers' demeanor and citizen interaction to insure we abide by our Mission Statement.
Fountain Inn Police in the Community: