By Betsy Finklea
LATTA – The Town of Latta has a new police chief.
Derrick Cartwright was hired as the chief of police on November 18th, according to Latta Town Administrator Jarett Taylor.
Taylor said eight candidates applied for the job, and four of the eight candidates who applied were interviewed by a hiring committee composed of Councilman Edward Bethea, Councilman James Reaves, a representative of South Carolina Probation and Parole, and a citizen on the Latta area. They used a system presented by the South Carolina Probation and Parole representative. There were various categories to be considered and questions asked and the person who scored the most points was offered the job. Taylor said that person was Cartwright.
Cartwright has been with the Latta Police Department for 12 years having joined the Department in November 2004. He graduated from the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy in 2005. Cartwright became a training officer and evidence officer in 2006. He is a basic instructor, capstun spray instructor, firearms instructor, field training officer manager, and Taser instructor. Cartwright is a former Latta Fire Chief and past-president of the rescue squad.
In 2013, Cartwright graduated with honors from American Public University where he majored in criminal justice and minored in business administration.
Cartwright has plans to make the department more visible and more active in the community. Cartwright says he wants the department to “be more proactive then reactive” and more “community-oriented”. He wants the community and officers to be more involved and communicate more.
Cartwright would like to have events such as a hot dog cookout where the officers can “hang out” with the community. He would also like for the officers to do presentations within the schools. He is also willing to do presentations for churches, community groups and organizations, etc. He feels it is important not only for the officers to educate the community but for the community to educate and communicate with the officers.
Another area Cartwright plans to work on is officer retention. He said that he has a good group of officers in place. Cartwright would like for the department to collaborate with the county and other law enforcement agencies.
Cartwright would like the officers to be able to obtain more training and to have more equipment.
He also wants to update their technology and get an office assistant/secretary to assist the department. He will be applying for various grants to offset the cost.
Cartwright said the council is very supportive of the police department, and he wants to continue the good working relationship with them.
Cartwright hopes the community will see the department moving forward.
Cartwright thanks the Latta Town Council, the officers and the citizens for the chance to serve as their Chief of Police, and  said if the Latta Police Department can be of any assistance to please contact him.