ACWORTH
POLICE DEPARTMENT
Maintaining the Best Industry Practices BY WAYNE DENNARD
review of all of our policies and procedures. For each policy, There are 628 law enforcement agencies in Georgia. the department is responsible for providing evidentiary Of those, only 137 are certified by the Georgia documentation to prove that it is not just in writing, but Association of Chiefs of Police (GACP). The Acworth also in active practice. Police Department is proud to be one of those agencies. Certification managers from the GACP visit the Recently, we completed our recertification cycle. agency and participate in Certification status ride-alongs with officers represents a significant (chosen at random), in professional achievement order to actually see the for law enforcement policies in action. I could agencies. It acknowledges not be more proud of our the implementation of agency, our officers and, policies and procedures that especially, our Office of are conceptually sound and Professional Standards, operationally effective. The which administrates our state certification process is certification program. completely voluntary; when In addition to GACP agencies undertake to devote certification, the division the personnel and resources soon will begin the to achieve certification, you process of working can be sure that they truly toward certification from value the profession, and are the Commission on committed to maintaining the Accreditation for Law best practices in the industry. Chuck Groover with the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police and Sgt. Enforcement Agencies GACP certification Lisa Montcalm, who oversaw the process for the department. (CALEA). CALEA places the highest value on is a national certifying professionalism, operational agency, and it is the perfect next step for our department’s guidance, positive community support, transparency, continued progress. For simplicity, the two types of ethical conduct and liability protection. These certifications have been compared with the difference cornerstones are vital to our agency’s ability to provide between attaining a bachelor’s degree (state certification) the best possible service to the Acworth community. and a master’s degree (CALEA certification). Like any Achievement of state certification lets the community worthwhile endeavor, it might seem a little daunting, but I know that the trust the residents have in their police am confident that our agency is up to the challenge! department is well placed. Additionally, it enables our city to receive a 20% reduction in liability insurance, since agencies that achieve certification can be expected to produce fewer negative claims. Every police agency is responsible for developing its Wayne Dennard has served as chief since own policies and procedures. Attaining certification by 2012 and has lived in this community for an outside agency is like getting a second opinion. The more than 40 years. certification process is lengthy, and it requires a thorough 14
AROUND ACWORTH | September 2021
