Combined Albany, Dougherty County drug, gang units move closer to reality

ALBANY — Once a special crime-fighting unit combining the Albany Police Department’s Gang Unit and the multijurisdictional Albany/Dougherty Drug Unit is approved, implementing the new configuration is expected to take only a few weeks.

The Albany City Commission was scheduled to vote Tuesday on an intergovernmental agreement to create the Albany-Dougherty Special Investigative Unit.

The next voting meeting for the Dougherty County Commission is Jan. 8.

“I don’t think there will be a problem with it,” Acting County Administrator Barry Brooks said. “I don’t see any challenge on it over here.”

The combination of the gang unit and Albany-Dougherty Drug Unit is expected to be completed within the first month of the year, Albany Police Chief Michael Persley said.

“It is merging the drug unit and the gang unit together, and their focus will be addressing illegal firearm possession, illegal drug activity and gang-related crimes,” he said. “(It’s) combining our resources and Albany’s gang agents to cover the entire county instead of just the city when it comes to investigative focus.”

Currently the drug unit consists of personnel from the Albany and Dougherty County police departments and Dougherty County Sheriff’s Office, while the gang unit is made up of only Albany police officers.

Under the new configuration, drug agents will be instructed on investigating gangs, and gang unit personnel to work drug cases in addition to those involving gang activity, the chief said.

The new contingent will consist of 24 personnel from the three law enforcement agencies and an assigned Dougherty County assistant district attorney, a number that includes both support staff and sworn police officers.

“The intent is to also cooperate with state and local agencies we have partnerships with and being more proactive,” Persley said.

The existing gang and drug units have good lines of communication and do not duplicate efforts, the chief said, but the new combination will allow for concentrated efforts.

“Instead of addressing these issues from two ways, we will address it from a unified front,” he said. “As trends change with crime and how criminals operate, we have to change with it as well.”

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