A veteran Wood County peace officer and 1982 Mineola High School graduate has joined Wood County Sheriff Kelly Cole’s staff in the role of patrol captain.

Tim Koonce has rejoined the sheriff’s office after serving as the Alba chief of police for 15 years. “Basically I am going to be taking care of day to day operations, mostly dealing with patrol,” he said. “I will be dealing with the cars and equipment while making sure everybody has what they need to get the job done. We have to make sure we keep up with the maintenance on the vehicles and if the officers have something they need out on patrol or if they need help on a call, we can get it to them.” 

Prior to full-time police service, Koonce was a mechanic just as his father had been for years.

“I worked with my father as a mechanic and taking care of storage buildings we had built. That’s how I made my money while I was working as a reserve,” Koonce said. 

Koonce’s service to Wood County as a peace officer began in 1986 as a reserve officer with the sheriff’s office.

“I reserved until 1993, a total of seven years, as a reserve officer,” Koonce noted. “In 1993, I hired on at the sheriff’s office here and worked to 2005. I started out under Frank White and then I worked for Bill Skinner and after that Dwaine Daugherty. I took the job in Alba as chief in 2005. I stayed there almost 15 years before coming to work for Sheriff Cole.”

Koonce talked about changes in police work today. “Technology is of course the big deal. We hated body cameras when they came out but we know now that body cameras are a good thing for officers. Cameras show the officer’s side of things,” Koonce added. “Over in Alba I had five or six times people wanted to come in and complain and when I would show them the video from the body camera, they changed their complaint.”

What exactly does Koonce feel his job includes? “I take responsibilities for these guys and how they treat people. I spent a lot of time doing things, especially in Alba, that might not really be my job. I was involved helping out in family disputes and getting property back where it belonged,” Koonce remarked. “The worst thing you can do as an officer, and I told these guys, is to tell somebody there is nothing I can do…. It’s not just one way. There is always something you can do or say, and sometimes it’s just listening and being there for them. It might be just a handshake, a hug or just taking somebody home and giving them a ride.”

Koonce has known Sheriff Cole for many years, meeting when they worked at the WCSO.

“Kelly was the chief in Alba, and when he left I took the chief’s job there,” Koonce remembered. “When he found out he would be doing this, he asked me if I wanted to help him get things straightened out and told him I would do it.”

Koonce has definite ideas about what he needs to do right away at the sheriff’s department.

“We got to get paperwork and cars and all straightened out. We must get all these officers their equipment up to date. We need to get the body cameras all in working condition. On any contact with citizens, the officers are supposed to turn them on,” Koonce said. “One of the biggest things here is keeping the cars in good condition for our officers. The cars were in pretty rough shape and have had to have work done just to get them going and out there.”

Some officers do take vehicles home.

“We do that so they can start working from home. Say they are in Hawkins, Holly Lake, Winnsboro or somewhere else out in the county, instead of coming all the way to Quitman first, they can get right to work,” Koonce said. “Our big deal is to make contacts, talk to people, make more traffic stops, and we are going to stop and talk to the guy in the yard raking leaves. We are going to be big on communicating with people. It’s amazing what you can find out just by talking to people and being friendly. Sometimes people just need somebody to talk to and tell their problems.”

Koonce said they always try to have deputies in each precinct at all times.

“We are looking at some new shifts, trying to overlap some people to sometimes have six or seven officers working the county. We have four patrol sergeants and about 14 deputies on the street and we have a couple of spots we are trying to fill,” Koonce said.

Koonce lives in the Alba area and is the proud grandfather of two grandchildren who live in the Fort Worth area.