According to Robert S. Stering's 2004
Police Officer's Handbook, a roll call is a briefing "where supervisors take attendance, inspect uniform and equipment, inform the oncoming shift of any outstanding incidents that may have occurred, inform officers of suspects to be looking out for, relate any law or procedural changes, and so on." While roll calls are a very common occurence in police departments around the state, the city of Fort Valley is taking the roll call to the community.
According to Fort Valley Public Safety Director Lawrence Spurgeon, the Front Porch Roll Call began in the Tampa, FL area. Fort Valley began implementing it after seeing it on the Fort Pierce, FL Facebook page. The Front Porch Roll Call assists the department in fulfilling a portion of its mission statement:
"The Fort Valley Police Department shall take a leadership role in the development of strong collaborative working partnerships with our community and service providers in order to solve problems, with a dedication and a commitment to the philosophy of community policing."
On August 19, 2016, GMA Research Analyst Holger Loewendorf sat down with Chief Spurgeon to talk about the city's successful implementation of the Front Porch Roll Call.