Tybee Island Pol By Alaina Loughridge
With summer rapidly approaching (here already, maybe?) it is time for Toon
Town to begin! For Tybee Locals this is a mixed blessing, but our secret is
out and more and more people are flocking to our beautiful beach with our
quirky people and open container happiness and why not? That is why we
live here. Tybee is awesome! Who wouldn’t want to be here? We are literally
living the dream of everyone! Move to the beach and live happily ever after.
Sigh. Well, everything has a pro and con to it and with that in mind, I had a
chance to sit down with Chief Bob Bryson to talk about the Tybee Island
Police Department and discuss how the times have changed.
Chief Bob Bryson has always been a part of a law enforcement net/family.
Achieving a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice and a Master’s Degree
in Public Administration, the Chief is also a graduate of the FBI National
Academy in Quantico, VA and spent his early formative years in the Army.
When he arrived on Tybee in 1989, he started as Officer Bryson. He then
spent eight years as an Officer with the Chatham County Police Department
before transferring back to Tybee as a Detective (the only detective on staff)
in 2002. In 2010, Detective Bryson became Chief Bryson and has been rolling
strong ever since then. With his pedigree, Bob Bryson could be anywhere in
the country in any department of his choosing. He chose Tybee because he
loves it here.
Whatever your opinion of the police may be, they are here to serve and
protect. Chief Bryson is an adamant proponent of this credo and is insistent
that the police department be a positive influence for this community and
have an open-door policy to one and all. With everything going on in this
crazy world, that is a tough job. Fortunately, all of his officers and staff feel
the same way about their department and this island. Not all of the officers
live on Tybee, but they come to work every day to do their jobs and become
a part of this community. With a total of 16 patrol officers, three detectives
(on call 24/7) and various staff to keep this operation running, it really is a
business and every single person is dedicated to it.
Bryson is also huge on continuing education: For himself and every single
one of his employees. There is constant training and opportunities are
available for those that want to go further. Out of his current staff, there
are four Master’s Degrees, several Bachelors and everyone has stocked up
on their secondary education possibilities. Most agencies throughout the
State host a variety of law enforcement personnel for different educational
programs and Tybee personnel take advantage of this opportunity.
One of my first questions to Bryson was about the body cameras. Bryson’s
immediate response before I could even finish the question was, “It is the
best thing that has ever happened.” It is all about accountability. Every single
officer wears one and the camera starts 30 seconds prior to hitting the
button. Every transaction is saved and stored in the Cloud for the protection
of both sides. This is huge as everyone here knows that Tybee is getting
busier every year. Let me break it down for you:
In April 2013, the total citation count (including alcohol related incidents)
was 312. In April 2014, it was 386 and in April 2015, it was 635. Now these
numbers ebb and flow depending on the month, but you can see with the
influx of visitors, Tybee is seeing an impact. Bryson also stated that we are
8 TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | APRIL 2018