Tyrone residents

can now say they have one of the best "little" police agencies

in Georgia.

The Tyrone

Police Department has received accreditation from the Georgia Police Accreditation

Coalition. Tyrone, with its 11 officers, ties Tybee Island for the smallest

department in Georgia to have achieved state accreditation.

The process

certifies that Tyrone's department meets a slew of guidelines, many of

which are above and beyond the normal requirements for law enforcement

agencies. The guidelines cover the entire gamut of police functions, from

how evidence is handled to how records are kept.

The department's

standard operations manual went from a regular notebook to a "very

thick, massive notebook," said Police Chief Roger Spencer.

Spencer said

everyone in the department pitched in along with other city employees.

Spencer said he was extremely proud of the department's efforts, which

began back in January 2000 under former police employee Ben Thomas, who

served as accreditation manager.

Spencer said

he didn't use a full-time employee to oversee the accreditation process

simply because he didn't feel comfortable taking an officer entirely off

regular patrol duties. But the combined effort of all the officers factored

into accreditation being granted, particularly because some officers "picked

up the slack on the streets so we could finish up," Spencer said.

Sgt. David

Mullis will become the department's accreditation manager now that Thomas

has left to become assistant police chief in Hapeville. Mullis will be

in charge of making sure the department complies with all the requirements

to maintain the certification, Spencer said.

"It puts

us up with the big boys now," Spencer said.

Back

to News Home Page | Back

to the top of the page