SAVANNAH, GA (June 8, 2012) Chatham County Commissioners were presented certification that the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department has regained its accreditation today.
W. Craig Hartley Jr., deputy director and chief of staff of the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA), presented the certification that was awarded in March in Mobile , Ala., at the regular county commission meeting today to Commission Chairman Pete Liakakis, County Manager Russ Abolt and county commissioners. Hartley told commissioners that only about 1,000 of the 17,000-plus law enforcement agencies in the country have fulfilled requirements of the accreditation and praised the efforts of the department and the governmental agencies that support them.
CALEA President Louis Dekmar, chief of the Lagrange, GA., police department, presented the certification to Mayor Edna Jackson, City Manager Rochelle Small-Toney and city alderman last Thursday. The presentations took place during the bodies’ regular-scheduled meetings.
SCMPD Police Chief Willie Lovett praised the work of his certification officer Phillip Reilley for cutting the application process time in half while leading the department to the reinstatement of the accreditation that a previous police chief had allowed to lapse. Reilley has since been promoted from lieutenant to captain and named commander of the West Chatham precinct.
Lovett also introduced Sgt. Roger Flannery, his new certification officer, who will be responsible for assuring that the department maintains its standards for accreditation.
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