Small department, big results

“I think it has less to do with me and more to do with the quality of our officers. I’ll put this department up against any other department in the state.””

Silverhill Police Chief Michael Taylor

SILVERHILL, Alabama — A lot has changed in just over two years since Michael Taylor began working with the Silverhill Police Department.

When he was hired as chief investigator in August of 2016, the department had just one other officer besides the chief.

Now the department includes four full-time and four part-time, along with five reserve officers, including two full-time school resource officers

“I think it has less to do with me and more to do with the quality of our officers,” said Taylor, who was hired in September as Silverhill’s new police chief after serving as the department’s acting chief since January. “I’ll put this department up against any other department in the state.”

The department currently has a combined 110 years of experience in law enforcement, Taylor said.

Taylor himself has more than 30 years experience, including 21 years experience as a federal air marshal with the Drug Enforcement Administration, serving in Cleveland, Atlanta and Nashville.

After serving two tours of duty in the U.S. Army, Taylor began his career with the Ozark Police Department, serving as a sergeant over a multi-agency task force, where he got his first K-9 partner.

For just over a year, he has been partnered with Robi, a Belgian malinois, working with both the Silverhill and Summerdale police departments through a grant with Baldwin EMC.

He also served with the Chattanooga Police Department before taking a position with the DEA, where he served for more than two decades before retiring and moving to Baldwin County.

“I don’t do this because I need the money,” he said. “I do it because I love it and because I have an obligation to protect the citizens of this area.”

Since taking the position as chief, Taylor has worked with his staff to hire new officers, improve the department’s equipment and training, including the hiring of school resource officer David Martinez, who brings 22 years of experience to the department, and John Branscomb, Taylor’s second in command who also serves the department as a school resource officer.

“I think it’s a great program,” Taylor said of the county’s commitment to have resource officers in ever school in Baldwin County. “There’s nothing more important that the safety of our students and no better way to develop a working relationship between the department and the community.”