Gordon for Asheville

Police departments in western Alabama work as a network, sharing data and working together to fight and prevent local crime. The strategy requires a commitment to communication, openness and a willingness to help for the deputies, police officers and lieutenants involved. Officers say it's a valuable tool that works. It's particularly useful for catching suspects who commit crimes in multiple counties or cities.

Perhaps no single officer embodies the strategy more than Pelham Police Department Lt. Scott Tucker, who earlier this month announced his official retirement from the force. Tucker expressed a commitment not only to his fellow law enforcement officials in sharing information and fighting crime, but also to the community as a whole. Tucker was known for being accessible and willing to help members of the media and the public, and took the time to inform the public about the details of crime in their area.

Tucker's retirement comes just weeks after he and local law enforcement also worked with federal authorities to arrest a man illegally living in a Pelham extended-stay hotel who had allegedly threatened the life of President Barack Obama on multiple occasions. Tucker's Pelham department, the Birmingham Police Department, the FBI, the CIA, the Secret Service and the local division of the Joint Terrorism Task Force kept an open dialogue, exchanging intelligence and information and ultimately coordinating the arrest of the Uzbekistan native, who faces trial in early November on counts of threatening the president's life, receiving and possessing an unregistered grenade, possessing a fully automatic weapon and being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm.

Technology has assisted the Alabama police departments in exchanging information. Among other methods, the departments use email or police department websites to quickly disseminate information to the numerous officers involved in the partnership. When the area departments began working together, Tucker had emphasized the importance also of personal relationships among officers in other departments. "We have to have assistance through the area," Tucker told an Alabama Fox station at the time. "This type of networking occurs across the country." Personal relationships draw officers closer, increasing the incentive to go an extra mile to help out another, even if they're from an outside location. Plus, maintaining a working knowledge of suspects, warrants and crimes in neighboring areas results in more criminals caught, who might have gone unnoticed in an outside area previously.

The layout of the Birmingham, Ala., area also is conducive to the collaborative structure of the police forces. The metro area has numerous jurisdictions in a relatively small area. Driving up one highway, a person can enter multiple jurisdictions, Hoover Police Capt. Jim Coker has said. "Criminals do not respect city limits, so we have to share information," he said.

Lt. Tucker contributed to the high level of professionalism and a collective willingness to help that the western Alabama police departments maintained for the several years he was a member of the Pelham force. In addition to his professionalism and exceptional communication, local media outlets have characterized him as being a genuine person in columns written about his retirement.