The

Peachtree City Police Department has nearly completed its

accreditation process with few, if any, problems or

delays.

A group of

assessors came to town in mid-April on behalf of the

Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies

and spent four full days evaluating the department in

virtually every category.

Phone lines

were open for four hours the afternoon of April 17 so

that citizens could call and make whatever comments,

positive or negative, they wished relevant to the

process. Those phones were manned by the assessors, and

the call-in schedule was advertised to the public in

advance.

Later that

day, a public hearing took place in the council chambers

at City Hall for the same purpose. A total of 18 citizens

stepped up to the podium to express their views,

according to Sgt. Rosanna Dove, the department's

accreditation manager.

The actual

number of phone calls logged is not known to the

department, nor is the content of any of those calls,

Dove said. But there were no negative comments at the

hearing.

All of the

citizens who spoke related personal experiences in which

they encountered police officers in the city and were

somehow assisted by them. The assessors were very

impressed by the outcome of the 75-minute hearing, Dove

said.

The

assessors spent most of the Saturday before the hearing

riding along with various officers in their patrol cars,

observing traffic stops and other typical procedures.

Much of the next three days was spent going over the

department's files to make certain they were in order.

COLEA lists

439 standards for which the department can gain

compliance by issuing reports and written directives.

Assessors rate everything from the kinds of uniforms the

officers wear and the weapons they carry to how they fill

out their reports.

A number of

officers were interviewed by the assessors, who had

access to anyone they wished to speak with during their

visit.

A briefing

also was conducted with the command staff before the

assessors left town, Dove said, in which "everything

was extremely positive."

A final

report will be issued soon, and representatives from the

department will travel to Illinois the final weekend in

July to be officially reissued accreditation status. The

department was first accredited in 1992, then again in

1997. Since then, reaccreditation is required every three

years.