Decatur Police Department is welcoming a familiar face into a new role after the Board of Aldermen appointed Clay Garvin to be the new Decatur Police Chief.
Garvin, who has served as assistant chief since 2013, has more than 14 years of law enforcement experience in Newton County, serving on the Decatur and Union police departments.
“I actually worked for Decatur in 2006 and 2007,” he said. “I left and went to Union and worked for Billy Pat from the end of 2007 to 2012, and then came back up here in 2012. On my 1-year anniversary in 2013 I was promoted to assistant chief.”
Law enforcement, however, is not Garvin’s only connection to the area. He said his father’s side of the family is from Decatur, and many summers during his childhood were spent in town chasing after his grandfather, Skinny Garvin.
“He rode horses,” he said. “I spent a lot of summers up here riding horses and following him around like a lost puppy.”
Garvin said his parents instilled in him the value of serving others, and he took that with him into the military straight out of high school. After serving five years, a badly broken ankle ended his military career with a medical discharge.
“I guess if you’re going to break something, you might as well break it right,” he said. “I broke my ankle and my foot, and it was one of those things, it was career ending for that.”
Although law enforcement had always been his dream, Garvin found himself working in private security, which offered greater salary without the dangers of law enforcement.
“I didn’t have to deal with the stuff law enforcement officers had to deal with,” he said. “I called the police. If something happened, we would just call the police and let them deal with it.”
Then, Garvin and his wife decided to return home to his grandparent’s farm in Decatur, which had been left for him. Garvin’s wife, a teacher, quickly found work at Newton Municipal School District; however, there were few opportunities in Newton County for private security work.
It was then an opportunity opened to allow Garvin to pursue his dream of becoming a police officer. It wasn’t easy with an injured ankle, he said, but he graduated the academy and began working in the field he’d been drawn to since childhood.
Garvin said his favorite part of law enforcement is being able to serve others. Seeing other people in trouble and being able to help them is a reward of its own.
“A lot of the folks, unfortunately, that we deal with are having what you could consider the worst day of their life,” he said. “I enjoy being able to help them get whatever it is that’s bothering them solved and situate it out to make their day better.”
Having served on both Decatur and Union police forces, Garvin said he was fortunate to have worked under veteran law enforcement officers Joedy Pennington and Billy Pat Walker. He said both of them taught him a lot about being a police officer and continue to mentor him when he needs guidance.
“Both of those guys I can go to if I have any questions,” he said.
As chief of the Decatur Police Department, Garvin said he wants to continue to serve his community as Pennington and Walker taught him.
“Always treat somebody the way you would want to be treated,” he said. “I always try to keep that in the back of my mind when I’m dealing with somebody. If the roles were reversed, and it was me, or my wife or one of my children, how would I want that person to treat them.”
Although each chief brings with him new ideas on how to improve the department, Garvin said much of the work has already been done. In the future, he said, he’d like to work on upgrading the department’s equipment, such as body armor and side arms.
Decatur Police Department’s body armor is more than 5-years old, he said, and manufacturers recommend replacing it every five years.
“Your body armor is good past five years, but really most places tell you that its only got a lifespan of five years,” he said. “Most of our stuff is starting to get to that point.”
The department’s weapons are also about 15 years old, Garvin said. They were purchased three chiefs ago.
“We’re using third generation Glocks, and they’re on fifth generation now,” he said.
Up-to-date equipment helps keep officers and residents safe, and it is a morale boost for the department’s officers when they see their leaders investing in their work.
Garvin assumed the role of chief December 3 and is already hard a work. He said he plans to keep the department’s open-door policy. Any and all residents are welcome to stop by, ask questions and share concerns.
After more than 15 years at Newton Municipal School District, Garvin’s wife now works for Newton County Schools, where they’re children are students.
Garvin said his family has a lot invested in Decatur, and the town has been good to him. He said it has been an honor to serve the community as a patrol officer, and he looks forward to continue serving his town as chief.
