During 2025, the Williamsburg Police Department received accreditation for the first time, got new body cameras and cruiser cameras and new Tasers.
This was part of the message that Williamsburg Police Chief Jason Caddell delivered to the Williamsburg City Council on Jan. 12 while giving his 2025 year-end report.
Caddell said that due to glitches in the new Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system, he can’t give an exact total of the number of calls answered by his department in 2025, but he estimated it at about 5,500.
Williamsburg police made 779 total arrests with 78 arrests for drunk driving, and issued 210 seatbelt tickets, 125 speeding tickets, and 1,437 traffic violations during 2025. The department worked a total 247 collisions and opened 277 criminal cases.
Caddell said that technology for the department keeps getting better but with that the price of the technology keeps going up. For instance, the department paid about $16,000 for the current drone that it has a few years ago, which gets used quite a bit. Now it would cost about $22,000 for a similar drone.
Caddell added that his department is looking at ways to get a new $60,000 tethered drone, which could stay up for hours at a time, and would be great for things, such as Old Fashioned Trading Days or a college football game where it could go up one hour before the game started and stay up until the end of the game. It would give a 365-degree view of the area.
He said the police department is working with the University of the Cumberlands to see if something could be worked out for the purchase of such a drone.
Williamsburg Police have two FFA certified drone pilots and have assisted other departments with the drone. The county has a drone but doesn’t have a certified operator(s) for it yet.
Williamsburg Police are also working to get more officers certified to fly drones, and possibly getting more drones, which are smaller and cost less, i.e. about $7000 each that could be carried in the back of an officer’s patrol vehicle.
Caddell noted that the computers in the police vehicles need upgraded as the ones currently in use are Kentucky State Police surplus.
Caddell said that he got a $75,000 quote for the costs of replacing those computers.
When fully staffed, the department has 18 officers. Caddell said that one officer is in the final stages of being hired, and he hopes to have that officer in place by month’s end. Then the department will need to hire one additional officer.
He noted that it is a two-to-three-month process to hire someone.
The police department has 22 vehicles, including an older pick-up truck, and a Ford Explorer and two Dodge Chargers that were bought as surplus at a cost of $2,000.
Caddell said that these spare vehicles have come in handy as the current Dodge fleet has had a lot of issues having gone to the dealership 60 – 70 times.
Williamsburg Mayor Roddy Harrison said that the city is hoping to replace the Dodge vehicles with Ford vehicles, but this is probably about one year away from happening.
In response to a question from Williamsburg City Councilwoman Erica Harris, Caddell said that when a new officer gets hired and goes off to the police academy, they are required to sign a five-year contract. If those officers leave before completing their five-year contract, then the agency hiring them is responsible for reimbursing the city for training expenses.
