For the first time in almost a decade, the Eatonton Police Department has a new investigator.
Hargrove Jones first joined EPD in October 2021 as a certified peace officer. Three years later, he completed training and became certified as an investigator through the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth in October. He has been busy working and solving cases ever since then.
“He has come into this agency and really learned the citizens, and I think he’s grown a lot as a police officer,” Eatonton Police Chief Howell Cardwell said. “And he really has good instincts with his job. I look forward to continue working with him.”
Ironically, Cardwell was the department’s previous investigator, appointed by former Police Chief Kent Lawrence after he earned his investigator certification in September 2015.
Cardwell continued to be EPD’s sole investigator even after he became the police chief in December 2020.
Jones moved to Eatonton from north Philadelphia shortly before joining Eatonton’s police force.
During the COVID pandemic, he and his wife, Dejah, and their then-two children moved to Georgia to move to Atlanta, where Jones’ sister is a detective for the Atlanta Police Department. But after they discovered Eatonton and small-town life, the couple decided they’d rather raise their children here.
“It was like a culture shock at first, but it was the change of pace that we needed,” Jones said. “At that time, COVID was up, and crime was through the roof in Philadelphia, and we just had to get out. But then going from Philly to Atlanta was no different – it’s just big cities full of big issues. A smaller town is what a lot of people dream they could have. It’s a haven for the most part. I wouldn’t trade it. It’s something I can appreciate.”
As soon as he received his investigator certification, Jones’ first case would be difficult for even the most seasoned detective – the murder of the 5-month-old infant.
Jones said it was even more difficult because he and his wife had just had another baby, but that added to his resolve to find and arrest the one responsible. The infant’s babysitter was arrested and charged with the murder one month later.
“Chief called me and said ‘are you ready to start?’ I said “what do we have?’ and he told me, and I was like, ‘Let’s do it,’” Jones said.“It took a while because of the language barrier, plus the lies. But we got it solved to where he (the deceased infant) can have his peace. He was just a baby, and that’s what a baby deserves. So we got it done.”
While working the baby case, a shooting happened in the parking lot of Waffle House, followed by a smash-and-grab burglary, and then an entering autos case. Each of those cases was solved quickly, suspects were arrested, and only one arrest was yet to be made.
All the while, Jones focuses on making a difference in the small town he now calls home.
“How you handle things really determines how effective you can be with the people of the community,” he explained. “One of my goals is to make sure people can come to me and talk to me – not necessarily to save them from being in trouble, but if they’re in trouble, find the best route to handle it with the least amount of conflict. If you want the community to trust you as an officer, you must show them why. I try to be that why.”
And he’s doing it by being proactive instead of reactive. When he encounters young men making wrong decisions, Jones said he starts working with them before it becomes too late.
“I try to mentor them, take them out of that mindset of fast money or dumb mistakes. That’s not the way. So, focus, work out, and clean up because, you know, let’s do something better for ourselves and the community. I try to get them to do that," Jones said.“A lot of the young men I’ve done that with haven’t seen any more trouble. And I’ve done that with about 10 or 12 so far.”
His wife, Dejah, is also working with young women and has started teaching them dance as a way to direct their energy into something artistic.
“We’re trying to get our hands in the community,” Jones noted. “Trying to step it up a notch for the youth, for the older folks. Because when the youth are put together, then the older folks have nothing to worry about.”
A graduate of Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, Jones also dances, sings, and acts. He said he performed for Jon Bon Jovi when he received the Marion Anderson Award and took classes on Broadway. He enjoys writing, gaming, and spending time with his family. Hargrove and Dejah now have two sons and two daughters, ages 8 months to 9 years old.
The small city is growing, and Investigator Jones and the Eatonton Police Department are working to keep it a haven.