Long Time Toccoa Officer Curtis Scott Passes Away

Law enforcement is remembering a long-time Toccoa police officer.

Curtis Scott passed away on Saturday.

Scott worked for the Toccoa Police Department for more than 40 years.

He started as a part-time patrol officer in October 1967, before he was hired as a full-time officer in March 1971.

Scott then remained with the Toccoa Police Department until his retirement in June 2010.

During his time as an officer with the Toccoa Police Department, Scott served as a lieutenant, captain, assistant chief, and interim police chief on numerous occasions.

City records indicate Scott served under at least 11 different Toccoa police chiefs.

Current Toccoa Police Chief Tim Jarrell said he was humbled to have known Scott.

“One of the things I remember most about Curtis is in my opinion, Curtis was ‘community policing’ before they had a definition of ‘community policing’,” said Jarrell. “He was part of the history of the police department. He knew the community make-ups and how to best police those communities. He had history and knowledge of the city that you will not find in a history book. He always had a smile on his face, laughter in his voice, and he loved that pipe.”

Jarrell said Scott was serving as Assistant Chief of Administration when he was hired back to the Toccoa Police Department to serve as Assistant Chief of Operations in 2007.

Jarrell said Scott helped him tremendously upon taking that position.

“He welcomed me in and made sure I was familiar with certain aspects of the department and as far as if there was a problem in certain areas of the community, he made sure I knew the history of the community, that I knew what was expected by our citizens,” said Jarrell. “He was very knowledgeable and helpful in guiding me in the right path of making sure our patrol and detective divisions were delivering the services wanted by the community.”

According to Jarrell, Scott was also a long-time active member of NOBLE, which is the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.

City records indicated that Scott was 79 years old.