Former Andalusia Police Sgt. Wade Garrett was remembered this week as an excellent officer whose expertise as a fingerprint technician was unparalleled. 

Garrett died on Monday. He was 68.

Gary Hutcheson worked with Garrett for more than 11 years at the APD before joining the investigative team in the district attorney’s office. Hutcheson said his former co-worker was so well known as a print expert that agencies in surrounding communities and even the state and federal government frequently called on him for help in investigations. 

Garrett had worked with the Alabama Bureau of Investigations before joining the APD. 

“The ABI had sent him through print schools with the FBI,” Hutcheson recalled. “He left them to come to APD. That boy could process a crime scene. He was an asset to Covington County and the surrounding counties.”

Hutcheson said Garrett could look at a fingerprint and almost immediately provide information about suspects.

“He would lift a print, look at me and say, ‘This is a male. This is a female. This is the print of a small juvenile male. He was that good,’ “ he recalled.  

The APD eventually set up a print processing lab for Garrett, and he was frequently called to homicide investigations in surrounding communities. His work was important in investigations and prosecutions. 

“Let’s say in rape investigations, he could process a bed sheet and bring a print out. That’s how important he was.” 

Former Covington County District Attorney Eugenia Loggins said Garrett’s skills were well known.

“He was equally as good as anyone in the forensics department if not better,” she recalled. “And it wasn’t just fingerprints. He was thorough. Wade didn’t give up. He was thoughtful about his investigations, like a detective in these crime mysteries I like to read.

“Best of all, you could trust him,” Loggins said. “You knew he would do it right. He was not just thorough, he was a delight to work with.”

Current APD Chief Paul Hudson worked with Garrett as a member of the Drug Task Force. 

“We brought him several prints that we had pulled from evidence and he was ability to help us develop suspects or confirm the suspect we had. After he retired, we last that immediate resource, and it slowed down our ability to solve crimes. 

“He was an asset to the City of Andalusia and Covington County,” Hudson said. 

Sgt. Garrett joined the police force in January of 1982, and retired in 2005.  No services are planned.