By By ANNA M. LEE Managing Editor
The Brewton Police Department recently completed a long-needed update of its Standard Operating Procedures manual.
The manual had not been modified to reflect changing procedures in 15 years.
Brewton Police Chief David Lovelace, the third police chief to use the old manual, initiated the update process.
The whole manual was revamped, using a basic operating manual of the International Chiefs of Police as a model, said Lt. Randy Nicholson with the Brewton Police Department.
For example, when the old manual was written, officers carried revolvers and now they carry automatic weapons.
Also, procedures for release had to be modified to reflect more modern equipment and changes in policy.
Under the old manual, the police department used an Intoxilizer device to measure blood alcohol levels and a person was required to have a level below .05 to be released. Now, the department uses Draeger equipment and blood alcohol levels must be below .02 for release.
The new manual also includes a canine policy, which was not needed when the old manual was written in 1989.
These are but a few examples of how procedures have changed for the Brewton Police Department in the last 15 years.
To familiarize Brewton Police officers with the updated manual, the department will give each officer a notebook detailing the changes, and they will be introduced to the new manual at their regular monthly in-service training sessions held the first Thursday of each month, Nicholson said.