Police Department

04/16/2021

Letter from the Chief

Greetings from the Lowell Police Department! It has been a while since the community has heard from us, so we wanted to update our citizens on some things that happened in 2020. Last year was a very hard and trying time for all of us in the City of Lowell with COVID-19. The police department was very fortunate to have citizens and businesses reach out to us with supplies such as hand sanitizer and masks. Our officers still continued to patrol the City of Lowell and answer calls as they came in but we tried to limit our contact with citizens because of COVID. We appreciate your understanding of the steps that we had to take during this time to make sure our officers and our citizens were kept safe.

With that being said, let me jump right in to some things that happened in 2020. Most events were cancelled due to COVID; however, we still had our National Night Out Event. It was our second one here in Lowell and was a little different from the year before. We were able to put together goody bags for the kids and do a drive-thru at Harold Rankin Park to for the kids to pick up their bags. We had positive comments about this event from the parents and kids...and, the officers had a blast and were happy that we could still do something for our kids.

We also had our 2nd annual food drive and had a great outpouring from the community donating food. Once again, we were able to take the food to our local food bank here in Lowell that helps feed our citizens. We are on track this year with having our 3rd annual food drive, so keep check on our Police Department's Facebook page around October-November for dates. Also, we have a big surprise planned for our food drive this year, so be on the lookout for this.

The Police Department also helped Parks and Recreation with the Reverse Christmas Parade this past year. Although it was an un-conventional parade, we had a great turn out. Participants in the reverse parade set up floats at George Poston Park and the citizens were invited to drive through the park and enjoy themselves. Citizens were able to take their time driving through while receiving candy and other items all while social distancing. This just goes to show our citizens that we can still have events and have fun as a whole!

We ask that if you come to the police department for any reason, please read the sign on the door and do not enter the police department. We still have some protocols in place due to COVID. The sign on the door will instruct you as to what you need to do to reach an officer. I have an open-door policy here and the citizens are more than welcome to come sit down and speak with me, all you have to do is schedule an appointment. We currently do not have anyone that sits in the office to answer phones, so if you need the police, please call 704-824-8540 (Police Department's number) and if no one answers, hang up and call 704-866-3300 (County dispatch) and they will have an officer either respond to your location or give you a call. Our department depends greatly on our citizens to call us when they see something that does not seem right. We have cleared several cases with information from our citizens. Do not feel like you are bothering us with something small, because the small things can lead to bigger things.

I would also like to remind our citizens to keep their vehicle doors, garage doors and house doors locked to help prevent any larcenies. With summer upon us and citizens doing yard work, please be mindful when you have equipment in the yard and you leave it unattended, it only takes a few seconds for someone to steal it.

Stay safe and remember, we are just a phone call away!

Respectfully,

Chief Scott Bates