4 - e-archives Home

Chief
Billy Minton
Chief Minton attended basic
training in 1983, class 151
and has 23 years of law
enforcement experience. He
began his career with the
Horse Cave Police Department
in January 1982, and
served as assistant chief
for the last two years. In
1995 he moved to the Cave
City Police Department and
worked his way through the
ranks of sergeant and captain
before being appointed
chief in 2001. He and his
wife Pat have been married
for 10 years and they have
five children and eight grandchildren.
Cave City is on the Kentucky Community Preparedness
Program list to be assessed. Why do
you think homeland security preparedness is important
for smaller communities?
as I travel throughout the state and talk with other
chiefs I find that smaller communities are not prepared
for a tragic event should one happen. smaller
communities seem to have the mind set that this
can’t happen to us. times have certainly changed,
and it is imperative that smaller communities have
an assessment to examine what their weaknesses
are and have them corrected.
how do you define professionalism in the law enforcement
field?
One is appearance — you always need to look
your best. two is knowledge — you always need
to keep up-to-date on your training. three, you
need to always conduct yourself in a professional
manner. Four is attitude — you need to have a
good attitude and a good outlook on life. It is easy
to have a bad day, and if you’re not careful, people
you come in contact with will notice these small
things. One of the things I strongly believe in is
always treating a person the way you would want
to be treated.
as we sympathize with law enforcement departments
in the disaster relief states, how would your
agency handle those stressful circumstances?
I would begin by combining our resources with
our neighboring communities’ law enforcement
agencies, fire departments and medical services.
By working with other agencies in our neighboring
communities I feel that we could handle a disaster
with minimal stress.
how did your department implement a neighborhood
watch program and what is your next community
project?
In 2002 we implemented a neighborhood watch
program by having meetings with Housing authority
complex residents. this has been highly successful
as residents prepared meals, and everyone
– residents and law enforcement personnel – got
to know one another on a personal level. When
you get to know people on a personal level you
establish a comfort zone, people begin to trust you
and will share with you information you otherwise
would not have obtained.
We are currently establishing a drug program
for our elementary school. We have been working
In the Spotlight | Chief Billy Minton
“You need to have a good attitude and a good
outlook on life.”
with L.a.W. Publications, putting together a magazine
with information about drugs and their effects.
they are also providing coloring books for the
younger children. I feel that educating our youth on
the harmful effects of drug use and abuse is our best
weapon in combating drugs. We will also encourage
parents to participate and educate them. With
law enforcement personnel and parents working
together as a team, I believe we can have a tremendous
effect on the war on drugs.
how has your department benefited from grants?
When I was appointed chief in 2001, my main
goal was to modernize our department with
new equipment and become an accredited police
agency. I had many ideas and plans, and our mayor,
Bob Hunt, supported every plan I had. We became
accredited in March 2002. after that I began exploring
grant programs and communicating with
other agencies to seek out the many tools needed
to be successful in law enforcement. With a Local
Law enforcement Block grant we purchased some
equipment and a police vehicle. the last two years
we have received a total of $15,000 from the Department
of agriculture rural Development Program.
this money was used for the purchase of police
vehicles, and we now have a take-home fleet.
two years ago we received a $17,000 mini buster
contraband detection kit used for drug interdiction
through the Department of the army. Just recently
we were awarded a $683 Justice assistance Grant
for purchasing new handguns, shotguns and computer
systems. We now have a total of seven computer
systems in our office, one for each officer.
Just a brief summary of what we have been able to
achieve due to various programs: each vehicle has
moving radar units, we have new weapons, computer
systems, and our take-home fleet.
the various grant programs have allowed our
police agency to become competitive in the law enforcement
field and enabled us to better serve our
community. Without some of the programs mentioned,
the majority of our accomplishments would
have been virtually impossible. I also feel that pursuing
grant programs helps to reduce the burden on
our community’s tax payers. J
Winter 2005| KENTUCKY LAW ENFORCEMENT 4