Wayne County Sheriff Larry Pierce has promoted Lt. William Kates to Captain of the department’s new School Resource Officer (SRO) Division. A badge presentation and promotional ceremony was held for Kates at the Wayne County Courthouse.
The ceremony was opened with a word of prayer and then the Pledge of Allegiance. Sheriff Pierce then spoke about the years of service that Kates had in law enforcement. Most of his career has been with the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office. He has been working for years as a School Resource Officer and moving up through the ranks in the division. After making the remarks Sheriff Pierce then officially promoted Lt. Kates to Captain and presented him with his Captain’s badge.
Captain Kates began his new supervisory duties commanding the School Resource Officers (SRO) division on March 1st. Sheriff Pierce said he saw the need for the SRO Officer Division to have its own Captain due to its size. Currently, there are 19 full-time and four part-time SRO’s.
With this promotion, Captain Kates will command four supervisors who oversee the daily operation of the division. Captain Kates also becomes a member of the Sheriff’s command staff which consists of the Sheriff, Major of Enforcement, Major of Detention/Civil, Captain of Civil Division, Captain of Detective Division, Captain of Patrol Division, Captain of Support Services, Captain of Detention and now Captain of SRO’s. As part his duties being a member of the command staff, Captain Kates will participate in personnel and budget decisions for the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office.
