Fort Valley Chief of Police looks to connect with community

FORT VALLEY, Ga. — The City of Fort Valley has a new Police Chief, David Wilson, and he is looking to improve the relationship between the Fort Valley Police Department and the Fort Valley Community.

Wilson was named the Interim Police Chief earlier this year, and as of Thursday, April 23, he has been named the Official Chief of Police for the City of Fort Valley. He joined the FVPD in January 2025; before that, he served in DeKalb County for over 20 years. Wilson has also worked as a reserve officer for Rockdale County and for the city of Lithonia. 

“It’s been pretty good so far. I’m settling in. Now that I know it’s not the interim position anymore, I feel like I can start doing stuff. Kind of making it—I say my own but it’s not really about me it’s about the department—but making it my own so to speak,” Wilson said.

One of the main goals that Wilson is working toward is improving the relationship between the FVPD and the Fort Valley community. He is currently working on plans to involve both the department and community, such as events including a barbecue or food truck event. 

“I want to get the police department more involved with the community, cause I want the citizens to know, yeah, we’re the police, but at the same time, we’re humans just like y’all are. It may be a barbecue, to let the citizens come out, or a baseball game, something to get the citizens involved with the police department,” Wilson said. “People have to feel comfortable to come and talk to us, we can’t solve these crimes on our own. It takes citizens who are out there that know something or have seen something—they may know that one tidbit of information that cracks the case.”

Community relations are vital for the police department, something Wilson recognizes. He stated that more often than not, cases are aided by information from the community. 

 “It’s a team effort. We can’t effectively fight crime if we don’t have the support of the citizens,” Wilson said. “We’re not the enemy, we’re here to help y’all. We want to work not only for the citizens, but with the citizens. 

Wilson has said that so far, the community seems to be responding positively to the changes in administration and that department morale is increasing.

“The people that I’ve talked to or who’ve reached out to me when I’ve been out are pretty happy with the changes that they’ve seen so far. I know there’s people out there that aren’t, that’s part of it. I think overall, it’s been positive,” Wilson said. “I feel like the morale—I mean it still has a long way to go—but I feel like the morale is improving. We’ve made leaps and bounds with hiring more officers, which we desperately needed. I feel like the officers are more enjoying coming to work and being a part of what we’re trying to do.”

While working as the Interim Chief, Wilson made some changes that were necessary, but waited before making any large changes so as not to disrupt the officers in case the city hired someone else for the chief position.

“I was told it’s your department, run it. But, at the same time, I felt like if I end up not being chief then somebody else is going to come in and start over and do things differently. I don’t want to put everybody through that. So, I just kinda left it. Things that had to be adjusted, I did, but stuff that could wait, we did. I didn’t want to put the officers through it,” Wilson explained.

Wilson has stated that the city and department have been working well together. At this point, one of the main requests by the FVPD is the Flock Camera System. Flock is a network of AI-powered Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPR) and security cameras, used by law enforcement, in deterring and solving crime. The cameras identify vehicles by capturing license plate numbers, make, model, color, and unique features like bumper stickers.

“The city council has been great. I mean, obviously, I’m not going to get everything I want; I understand that there’s budget constraints. The council is great, they listen, they understand what we’re trying to accomplish. Just like in their position, my position is to take care of the citizens and make sure everybody is safe,” Wilson said. “We’re working on a project right now with the city council to bring in a Flock Camera System. So, we’re in progress with that, and that was a big ask. Hopefully, it’s going to go through, I’m cautiously optimistic. The City Council is well aware of the potential it has to help us in law enforcement, to help citizens as a whole. That’s something that we’re looking at within the next month.”

When asked about the decrease in crime, Wilson attributed previous Chief of Police DJ Flores’ work, bringing in more law enforcement from surrounding counties, especially those with experience working in larger cities, like Wilson himself.

“A lot of that [crime reduction] started under the prior administration. Flores started bringing in more officers—like myself—who came from Metro Atlanta that have tons and tons of experience. I’ve kept that ball rolling,” Wilson said. “We were able to come in with all this experience that you just—no fault to theirs down here—that you just don’t get. We’ve been able to help these full time officers, give them some of this knowledge. I think that has really helped on the road to help curtail these aggravated events, shootings, robberies, that kind of stuff.”

When asked how crime in Fort Valley compares to that of crime in DeKalb County, Wilson said that when you get into the statistics, the crime rate could be comparable, but the severity of the crimes is far less in Fort Valley. 

“There’s crime everywhere. Here, there’s nowhere near the volume, but when you look at population-wise and the area-wise, it’s comparable. When you get down into the numbers, it’s probably about the same.”

Wilson took a moment to thank both the council for appointing him to the position, but also his officers, who make the daily operations of the FVPD possible. 

“I appreciate the opportunity and chance to do this. It’s really cool that trust is there in me, to give me a chance to do something better not only for the department but the city as a whole,” Wilson said. “This department is not about me, it’s about these guys. They’re the ones out there, beating the streets everyday, fighting the crime. I’m the guy in the background making sure they’ve got what they need to do their job.”