Lavonia Police Restructuring Organizational Rankings

The Lavonia Police Department is changing its organizational chart to give officers more opportunities for advancement.

Assistant Police Chief Daniel Carson recently gave the Lavonia City Council an overview of how the new structure will look.

The new rankings structure Carson explained, is more in line with other law enforcement agencies in Georgia.

Carson said the new structure will also include mandatory ongoing training at each level; especially if the officer wants to advance in rank.

For example, entry-level officers will undergo just over 500 hrs of training, an Officer 1st class will have to have 149 hrs of training.

As the officer achieves a higher rank, there is also an opportunity to advance their college education if they so choose, which would be paid for by the Department. The college classes would be done online for about $30 a class.

Additionally, Carson said as an officer advances in rank, his salary will naturally increase, which will mean an increase in the Police Department’s budget.  However, he noted that the budget for the new pay scales will not go up much over the next several years.

The main goal of the restructuring, Carson explained, is to incentivize officers to grow in their careers at the Lavonia Police Department as well as have goals to reach for.

“It gives them some incentive. It keeps them here. You’re talking about an officer that comes out of the academy and they start looking at this and they say, ‘I know I can make this 10 years from now.’ In five years, they’re starting to look at where they’re vested. They might be young when they come out of the academy and not really looking at retirement but by the time they get to that point it starts to make more sense to them to stay at Lavonia Police Department,” he said.

The Council, Mayor Courtney Umbehant, and City Manager Charles Cawthon are beginning to look at the next 2023 fiscal year budget.

Lavonia’s fiscal year coincides with the calendar year and begins on January 1.

The Council and Mayor thanked Carson for his presentation but took no action.