WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Correction: We incorrectly reported the number of sworn officers in the department back in July 2018. Police records show that they had 106 officers in all then, and they have 117 sworn officers now, which includes 65 patrol officers.
Warner Robins Police Chief John Wagner is celebrating two years as the city's top cop.
13WMAZ sat down with the 29-year veteran of the department to find out where they currently stand on hiring and his hopes for the department's future.
Two years ago, Wagner was named acting chief after former Chief Brett Evans was pressured to retire. In August of 2019, it became official.
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"I'm still young in this job, I'm still learning," says Wagner.
Back in 2019, Wagner said one of the first things he wanted to work on was hiring.
His goal? 155 total officers.
"We're not close to that right now," he says. "People are not signing up to be police officers. You can't go and get something that's not there."
Back in July 2018, the department had 106 officers.
In August 2019, shortly after Wagner officially took over, they had around 115 officers. The city budget allowed for 120.
In September 2020, they had 125.
At the beginning of 2021, Wagner says they had 117 sworn officers, with around eight in various points in the training process.
"You gotta get them through the state course before you can get them here as a trainee. You're looking at a year before you can make any kind of difference getting somebody on the road."
He says they lost some of the hiring momentum they had going because of the pandemic and there's always going to be people retiring and getting promoted.
Another goal for Wagner as chief was for his officers to become more proactive instead of reactive.
"We're kinda chasing our tail, we were going to so many calls that it's gotten to the point where we can't really police and we're going from place to place," Wagner said only 6 hours into the job in 2019.
Now, he says that is something he thinks they have accomplished.
"That has slowed down some for two reasons. We were able to expand the specialty units. One specifically, it's called P.A.C.E. Proactive Crime Enforcement. That unit used to be the STOP Team. We rebranded that. They work specific crime areas," he says.
He says being a little more selective about which calls they answer during the pandemic has helped too.
"We're a full service agency and we pride ourselves on that," he says, "But we had to stop some of the things like the grandmother that called and said the 5-year-old took money out of a wallet. These are parental problems that need to be taken care of," he says.
He says their call volume dropped by about 2,000 last year.
They respond to about 220 calls in a 24-hour period.
"There are some things that people need to take some personal responsibility about and it's just easier to call 911. To me, that is an absolute abuse. You need to start making some decisions."
Mayor Randy Toms says he is happy with the department's direction under Wagner.
"I think there was a desire within the department for maybe some new ideas and new direction, and Chief Wagner, I thought then and I know now that he was the right person for that job," says Toms.
He says he appreciates how forward thinking Wagner and Assistant Chief Rooks have been.
"I'm looking forward to swearing in more officers. I'm looking forward to, in future budgets, being able to add more officers as we move along."
As for the future, Wagner says he will continue the push to hire more officers.
He also wants to update their training facility, build a new office for their forensics unit, get their national certification and host more community events.
He also says they need to take better care of their officers wellness, both in Warner Robins and all over the state. He says they see more traumatic events than the average person and mental health needs to be talked about more than it is.
"I plan on being here for the long haul right now. Lots of work to still be done, there's no doubt about that. I want to build the department, there's no doubt about that, but I want to build it the right way."
Chief Wagner says he's glad things are slowly starting to get back to normal a year into the pandemic as more of his officers get vaccinated.