Honor and Integrity the Core Values of New Lavonia Police Chief

The City of Lavonia has officially welcomed its new Police Chief.

Mayor Courtney Umbehant welcomed Chief Edmisten Wednesday morning at a special swearing-in ceremony and said Lavonia is blessed to have such an asset to the City.

“It is a privilege to officially welcome Shane Edmisten to the Lavonia family. We are thrilled to have him as our new Chief of Police. I’ve enjoyed the conversations we’ve had thus far and the manner in which he carries himself. He’s going to be a great asset to the City of Lavonia,” Umbehant said.

Chief Edmisten began work Monday and said he appreciates the warm welcome he’s received so far from citizens.

“I just want to thank everybody that I’ve had in the last couple of days,” he said. “But I hope to make a difference. I hope I leave (the City) better than I found it. That’s what I did in Douglas and Suwanee both. My door is always open, especially for the guys that I work with. As a matter of fact, you can come to the back door of my office and you can knock anytime you want to…We hope to make a difference. And I will tell the team that we’re going to work with honor and integrity. And as long as we tell the truth and do the right thing for the right reasons, we’ll be OK.”

Chief Emisten was joined in the swearing-in by his wife, father, brothers, niece, and sister-in-law as well as the retired Suwanee Chief of Police and Retired Swanee Police Captain.