New Police Precinct Opens in West Mobile

Aug 3rd, 2007

Four motorcycles and five squad cars pulled out of the new Fifth Precinct of the Mobile Police Department shortly after 7 a.m. Friday, August 3, at a brief ceremony to mark the opening of a precinct office in the three-mile wide police jurisdiction.

The precinct is located out of a FEMA trailer at 8400 Airport Blvd, Building 48, on the east ramp of the Mobile Regional Airport property.

The establishment of a test precinct is an effort by the Mobile Police Department to determine if response times by police can be improved by locating a command staff and patrol officers inside the jurisdiction.

“We have a command staff and officers who will be held accountable for outcomes in the jurisdiction,” said police Chief Phillip Garrett.

There will be 26 sworn officers on assignment in the new precinct and another 12 newly-sworn officers temporarily assigned there for their field training. Four-person squads will work each of five jurisdiction police beats. Capt. Phillip Snodgrass, a 19-year veteran of the department, will command the new precinct.

The jurisdiction stretches three miles west of the city limits along Cody and Sollie Roads. The jurisdiction stretches north to Moffett Road and south to I-10.