Lawrence County Adds Special Victims Unit To Sheriff's Office

The Lawrence County Sheriff's Office has added a new unit to its Criminal Investigations Division. Sheriff Gene Mitchell has hired Christopher Waldrep and Adam Lentz to work as investigators in the newly-formed Special Victims Unit. The men will oversee cases in which women and children are victims.

The new unit comes due to funding from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA), through the Violence Against Women Act.


Sheriff Mitchell says this unit will allow investigators to become specialized as they look into certain crimes, such as domestic violence, sexual crimes and child abuse. In turn, he says this specialized training will help them be more effective in handling these types of crimes.

The unit will also handle registration and monitoring of all sex offenders, as well as organizing and conducting educational programs in the schools and community.

Waldrep and Lentz have already been closely involved with cases involving children, because they are members of the Lawrence County Drug Endangered Children Program.