FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE?????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ?OPCLEE

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2002??????????? ??????????????????????? ??????????????????????? ??????????? 202/307-0703

 

 

GEORGIA POLICE CORPS HOLDS THIRD GRADUATION CEREMONY ?

13 Officers Graduate From Justice Department Program

 

 

FORSYTH, GEORGIA? ? With the graduation today of 13 police cadets, the Georgia Police Corps has added a total of 39 highly trained Police Corps officers to community patrol throughout Georgia. Georgia is one of 22 states and territories that recruit and train college graduates to serve four years as community police officers through a program funded by the Department of Justice?s Office of Justice Programs (OJP).

 

?The work of these outstanding men and women is essential to the public good.? It strengthens our social fabric by maintaining standards of community life,? said Deborah Daniels, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs.? ?Their work will engage citizens in a collaborative endeavor of community‑building.? In accepting the responsibility for keeping our communities safe and upholding law and order, they will make a difference in the best tradition of a proud profession. We admire their dedication and congratulate them on this achievement.?

 

?The Police Corps is a competitive college scholarship program for students who

agree to work in a state or local police force for at least four years.? Scholarship funds cover education expenses, including tuition, fees, books, supplies, transportation, room and board, and miscellaneous expenses.

 

Today?s graduates of the Georgia Police Corps program will join nine of the state?s local law enforcement agencies.? These departments, which include the Albany Police Department, Carrollton Police Department, Cobb Police Department, Duluth Police Department, Forest Park Police Department, Marietta Police Department, Morrow Police Department, Rome Police Department, and the Toccoa Police Department, will assign the new officers to community patrol within their jurisdictions.

 

The graduating Georgia Police Corps officers are: Jonathan Bratley of Lilburn; Thomas Case of Stockbridge; Randolf Cobian of Smyrna; Jeremy James Cole of Lawrenceville; John Gladen of Athens; Juaneka Smith of Albany; Rebekah Jean Steffman of Gainesville; Anthony Hardy of Gordo, Alabama; Jason Ledbetter of Jacksonville, Alabama; John Knoblach of Charleston, South Carolina; Leonard Blue of Walterboro, South Carolina; and Angela and Elisa Reedy of Athens, Tennessee.

 

The graduation and reception took place at 10:00 a.m. at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center Auditorium in Forsyth.? The keynote address was delivered by Robbie Maxwell, National Director of the Police Corps Program. The graduation is the culmination of a rigorous 20‑week Police Corps training program, which teaches the knowledge, skills and attitudes police officers need to serve on community patrol.? At the conclusion of the training, all participants must satisfy high performance standards for physical, mental and emotional fitness. The police departments in which individual participants will serve provide additional training as appropriate.

 

Students interested in the Police Corps apply to the lead agency of the participating state in which they wish to serve.? Applications are then evaluated based upon defined selection criteria. States with Police Corps programs are expected to advertise the availability of scholarships to the full range of prospective participants and to make special efforts to encourage applications from among members of all racial, ethnic and gender groups.

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For information about the Georgia Police Corps program and the next training class contact Jan McLeod at 478-993-4560.? Information is also available through OJP?s Website at:? http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/opclee.

 

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For additional information contact Sheila Jerusalem at 202/307-0703.