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Winslow Police Sergeant Afton Foster will retire from the department at the end of this month. During the regular Winslow City Council meeting last week, Chief Dan Brown honored Foster for his 26 years of outstanding service to the department and the community.
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“Before I came here,” said Chief Brown, “I read about how everyone loved Afton Foster and how he is looked up to in this city by its citizens. He embodies everything that is good about law enforcement. We are really going to miss him. He voluntarily took a demotion about a decade ago to work with kids as the school resource officer, because he wanted to. He will be retiring as a sergeant because he has recently been training recruits at the academy.”
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Foster said, “I will just say that I am very thankful to this city for giving me the opportunity to come to work here. Most of the guys that gave me that opportunity were the same ones that were chasing me around just a few years prior. I am honored and humbled to have served the citizens of this community all of these years. I feel blessed and it was my honor.”
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Foster has served as a corporal, a patrolman, a detective, a sergeant and school resource officer. Mayor McCauley added, “Afton and I grew up together. I got to sign his retirement papers and it brought tears to my eyes to know that you have done a great job. Thank you very much.”
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There will be a retirement ceremony honoring Foster this Friday, May 24, at the Winslow Police Department. The time has yet to be determined.
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Following a proclamation by the mayor of May 12-18 as Police Week in Winslow, Chief Brown also gave his quarterly report, covering February through April to the city council.
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In it, he revealed that the communications department answered 4,510 calls for service in that time. Those calls include police, fire and emergency medical services. “We have made 279 arrests and issued 121 citations.”
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Patrol staffing remains a high priority, according to Brown. “We currently have one police recruit that is going to graduate from the academy at the end of the month. We are also bringing on one additional person that will fill our allotted spot in June. That officer will be our school resource officer. He is a seasoned officer with 17 years of experience and who is also a motorcycle officer. He will be writing traffic tickets when he is not at school. To that end, I also just acquired a second motorcycle for use by the department from Navajo County with no cost to us. Traffic enforcement will be the motor officer’s main priority.”
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Officer training has also been prioritized by the department. “I did want to mention that we have undergone quite a bit of training and Lt. Ernie Cano has been accepted to attend the FBI national academy this summer. Two other officers in our department as well as myself have been to the academy. Less than one percent of certified law enforcement officers are accepted to the academy.”
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Currently, the department employs three detectives. According to Brown, each of those detectives carries a case load of 22 felony cases at a time on average.
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Brown said, “Morale within the department is high and the future is bright. Many citizens have approached me and have commented on the visible changes at the police department.”
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