Dothan Police Dive Team Making a Splash Solving Crimes

What to most only appeared to be a wet purse recovered from the bottom of a pond looks more like a trophy to Dothan Police Department's Dive Team.

"Sometimes the great thing is one thing is all it takes to place a felony charge. In this case it was something identified as coming from a vehicle that had been broken into and victimized," Dothan Police Cpl. Rachel David said.

That simple item helped Dothan Police pin another charge on two men. The two now face six felonies each... including breaking and entering and receiving stolen property. They're crimes that may have never been solved without the dive team.

"The people who do the crime figure they can just get away with it by just dumping it over into a pond or lake," Dothan Police Cpl. Chris Watson said.

"It's not uncommon in cases in general for people to take one or two things and throw out something else. What they may not count on is for us to recover that item and it to be positively identified," Cpl. David continued.

The team is six members strong. Each of those officers pays for their own equipment. The City of Dothan helps pay for training.

"The majority of the officers who do this do it because they want to. It's strictly volunteer," Cpl. Watson continued.

The team's role goes beyond evidence recovery. They also assist in search and recovery operations on waterways.

For the officers it's all part of the bigger picture. "It's like driving a car. You have your wheels, your engine, your drive train. If anyone of those components go missing you can't drive your car," Dothan Police Sgt. Todd David said.

Helping bring to light things thought forever covered... to bring charges to those who did it.