Poulan, Georgia

31°30′49″N 83°47′28″W / 31.51361°N 83.79111°W / 31.51361; -83.79111CountryUnited StatesStateGeorgiaCountyWorthArea • Total1.67 sq mi (4.33 km²) • Land1.67 sq mi (4.33 km²) • Water0.00 sq mi (0.00 km²)Elevation381 ft (116 m)Population • Total760 • Density454.27/sq mi (175.36/km²)Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)ZIP codeArea code229FIPS code13-62496^[2]GNIS feature ID0321100^[3]Websitewww.cityofpoulan.com

Poulan is a city in Worth County, Georgia, United States. The population was 780 in 2020.

Poulan is part of the Albany, Georgia metropolitan statistical area.

Poulan is notable for its police department's speed trap tactics from 2006 to 2012.^[4][5][6] In 2009 Poulan's small police force generated nearly $900,000 from fines and fees, a number comparable to a city 30 times its size and due to the charges and fees being more than most cities. The per capita revenue from fines and fees is $1,019.15.^[7]

Poulan Police Department was discussed in a 2024 multi part YouTube interview with a former officer who detailed speed trap tactics (including citation quotas), theft of evidence from an evidence locker, and multiple falsified police reports and other fabricated documentation and wrongdoing by police leadership.^[8][9]

The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Poulan as a town in 1889.^[10] The city was named for Judge W.A. Poulan.^[11] The remnants of what was once a bank and pharmacy are still standing on Broad Street^[12]. Poulan is also home to the only two historical registered properties in Worth County, which are the Poulan Library and Possum Poke^[13]. Poulan was settled in 1877 along the Brunswick and Albany railroad^[14].

Poulan Police Department has been featured in numerous articles by investigative journalists, most notably for it's speed trap tactics since 2009.^[15][16][17] The city attorney; former Albany, GA Mayor Tommy Coleman^[18]; has repeatedly defended the enforcement tactics, as well as the Poulan and Warwick Police Departments.^[19][20]

Between 2008 and 2012 Poulan is estimated to have received $1,676,402.80 (a per-capita amount of $2,012.49) from their Police Department's tactics inside the Poulan city limits on U.S. Route 82 (GA State Route 520).^[21] Residents of Poulan have publicly voiced their concern over their police department's tactics multiple times with department leadership specifically denying quotas for summons and citations for traffic related offenses.^[22][23]

YouTuber DG Hamblin^[24], a styled conservative former law enforcement officer who runs The DG Hamblin Show^[25], interviewed a former Poulan police officer in August 2024, where details regarding speed trap tactics, quotas for summons and citations, theft and tampering of evidence by commanders, falsified police reports, and general graft by commanders were examined.^[26][27]

Poulan is located at 31°30′49″N 83°47′28″W / 31.51361°N 83.79111°W / 31.51361; -83.79111 (31.513739, -83.791041).^[28] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.7 square miles (4.3 km²), all land.

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1900	474		—
1910	652		37.6%
1920	586		−10.1%
1930	611		4.3%
1940	670		9.7%
1950	750		11.9%
1960	736		−1.9%
1970	766		4.1%
1980	818		6.8%
1990	962		17.6%
2000	946		−1.7%
2010	851		−10.0%
2020	760		−10.7%
U.S. Decennial Census[29]

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 946 people, 365 households, and 273 families residing in the city. By 2020, its population declined to 760.

• Howell T. Heflin, who became a U.S. Senator from Alabama, was born in Poulan in 1921. At that time Heflin's father was serving as a Methodist minister in Poulan. The Heflin family remained there for only a short time before returning to their native Alabama.
• Chase Osborn was Governor of Michigan from 1911 to 1913. He resided at Possum Poke in Poulan and died there in 1949.

• Worth County, Georgia
• Possum Poke