MOULTRIE — The Moultrie Police Department added two supervisors and two patrol officers to its roster this week.
Cmdr. Anthony Ferguson will lead the patrol section and Sgt. Steven Stratman will be in charge of officer training and the Special Duty Unit. Officers Eugene Bell and William Baillargeon have joined the patrol officers. All four officially began with the department Wednesday.
Ferguson and Stratman replace Deputy Chief Gary Casteloes, who left Sept. 18 to become chief of the Douglas, Ga., police department, and Cmdr. Isaac James, who retired the following week.
Ferguson and Stratman come to the department having served distinguished careers in the U.S. military. Ferguson said he served in the U.S. Air Force, and Stratman said he served four years in the Air Force then joined the Army for 16 years.
Ferguson said he came to Moultrie from the Bronx, N.Y., and he has received many kinds of training and experience in his career. He has worked in the Magistrate Court system, served as a deputy chief of police in Pine Lake, Ga., is a 15-year adjunct professor for police training in three states and is Homeland Security certified. He was in New York during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and when U.S. Airways Flight 1549 was safely landed in the Hudson River in January, and he has been nominated for the Fraternal Order of Police Hall of Fame.
Ferguson said he came to Moultrie because he wanted to live in a city that had a family-oriented community setting. He wants to help the city move forward and help the department have the same professionalism and standards of larger cities.
“I like the feeling like I’m part of a family here,” Ferguson said. “I feel very comfortable here.”
Getting the community and police department working together is paramount for both to be safe and successful, Ferguson said. It is virtually impossible for one to be successful without the other.
“I believe in order for us to have a safe and prosperous community,” Ferguson said, “we’ve got to work together.”
Stratman said grew up in Missouri farm country but served all over the world in the military. In the service, he worked in dog handling, security police, fraud investigation, criminal investigations division and in general investigation. He was stationed in Germany twice and in Honduras before retiring from the Army in 1992. Afterwards, he served with the Garden City, Ga., Police Department for almost 15 years.
Realizing he had not received a formal education during his military service, Stratman said he returned to school in January. He attended classes while working for the Savannah Airport Police Department, which gave him the flexibility to work and attend classes. He needs only three or four class credits to complete his bachelor’s degree.
Stratman said he is committed to ensuring officers receive the finest training possible and continue to be trained to the best of their abilities. With law enforcement being much more visible today than in the past, officers need to be better trained and to maintain their training.
“I’m here to help these guys every way I can,” Stratman said.
Ferguson said he is committed to upgrading the department, especially the K-9 unit, and to making police more accessible to the community. Both come in looking to build on Police Chief Frank Lang’s vision for the Moultrie Police Department and reach out to the community.
“We do have a department that cares about the community,” Ferguson said.
Local News
Related Photos
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Moultrie Police Training and Special Duty Unit Commander Sgt. Steven Stratman, at left, and Patrol Section Commander Anthony Ferguson stand together Friday. Stratman and Ferguson joined the Moultrie Police Department Wednesday along with two patrol officers, Eugene Bell and William Baillargeon. John Oxford
Discussion
MPD welcomes new officers
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