Lavonia PD Receives Sixth State Certification

The Lavonia Police Department is state certified for another three years.

Deputy Police Chief Daniel Carson and Lt. Wayne Mitchum received the certification on July 23 at the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police Summer Conference in Savannah.

Lavonia Police Chief Shane Edmisten praised the work of Lt. Mitchum for his hard work in putting the certification application together.

Edmisten noted this is the sixth time the Lavonia Police Department has been State Certified.

“We’re recertified and we get three years of certification. So, we’re good until 2026. And the Lavonia Police Department was State Certified for the first time in 2001. So we’ve been State Certified for 22 years and with this latest certification it will be 25 years total in 2026,” said Edmisten.

According to the GACP website, certification status represents a significant professional achievement for a law enforcement agency.

It also acknowledges the implementation of policies and procedures conceptually sound and operationally effective, and is about the implementation of best practices in law enforcement.

In order to be awarded state certification, police departments must meet 127 high standards in various areas of operation.

Participating agencies conduct a thorough self-analysis to determine how existing operations can be adapted to meet these objectives.

Once the procedures are in place, a team of trained assessors verifies that applicable standards have been successfully implemented.

The process culminates with a decision by a joint executive committee that the agency has met the requirements for certification.

Certifications are awarded every three years.