When I first came to work at the City of Conyers, the Police Department was in the process of withdrawing from the State Certification process. Over the past year and a half, all members of the Department have been working hard to achieve getting our Department’s State Certification awarded. We received a letter dated February 1, 2012 from the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police Director Frank Rotondo. The first line of this letter read:

"Congratulations for achieving State Certification!"

This accomplishment establishes our department as one of the top agencies in Georgia. Less than 15 percent of law enforcement agencies in the state of Georgia have accomplished this objective. This is clearly an achievement we are proud of.

Achieving State Certification requires a great deal of effort and commitment to a complex task, which requires compliance with a solid and complete set of policies that cover all of the areas found in the standards required for certification. These standards cover eight distinct areas of law enforcement, including the agency’s role, organization and management, personnel, legal, operations, support services, communications, and holding areas.

Additionally, we are continuing our efforts to become one of the best departments in the state of Georgia in order to provide exceptional services to our community. Later on this month, we will be undergoing an Organizational Effectiveness and Efficiency Study. This study will consist of a review of the following:

1) buildings and facilities including the evidence room;
2) police vehicles and related equipment;
3) records, reporting and communications system;
4) organizational structure, staffing and resource allocations;
5) salary survey and comparison;
6) staffing analysis and morale survey;
7) a high liability policy review in relationship to State Certification Standards to include ethics policy and compliance to policy;
8) overtime request procedures and distribution of overtime; and
9) general observations and recommendations including a written final report and presentation
to City Council.

We are also in the process of working towards CALEA International Accreditation and have an on-site assessment for this program scheduled at the end of summer.

This month, I would like to remind everyone to take time out to document information about all their electronics, guns, and any other valuables. This will help in returning recovered items to their lawful owner. You can simply make a list with the type of item, make, model number, serial number, and a brief description. Keep the list in a safe place where you will be able to access it if you need the information in the future.

Recently Crime Analyst Kim Lucas completed courses from California State University in Sacramento in order to receive the Department of Justice Crime and Intelligence Analysis Certificate. Lt. Ryan Peterson completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Studies from Mercer University. I am extremely proud of these individual accomplishments.

I also want to extend my congratulations and appreciation to Detective Ken Swift and Probation Officer Scharita Greene for achieving five years of service to the City of Conyers.