Mayor says police, fire staffing up; city adding neighborhood e-bike patrols and reported an e-bike officer arrest

Mayor Craig Ford said Gadsden City has increased police and fire staffing since he took office, is deploying e-bikes for neighborhood policing and reported a recent arrest by an e-bike officer for exhibition driving.

Ford said when he became mayor the police force had 72 officers; the mayor said the city is now at 86 officers with a target of 105 and expected to reach the target later in the month. He said the fire department increased to about 102 personnel from roughly 80 when he took office and that the city recently hired three recruits who came through a high-school program.

The mayor described a ribbon-cutting at the Nakalula Falls fire station and said the city plans to expand neighborhood precincts, adding that he asked police to put e-bikes into neighborhoods. He credited e-bike patrols with arrests: “We had an e bike police officer arrest somebody doing exhibition driving on Rainbow Drive,” Ford said, describing how the driver stopped at a Waffle House and was taken into custody.

Ford said the city does not allow exhibition driving on Broad Street or elsewhere in Gadsden and that officers are working to stop the practice. He did not provide personnel rosters, hiring budgets or the dates of the Nakalula Falls ceremony beyond saying a ribbon cutting occurred.