Newspaper Page Text
The Lee County Ledger, Wednesday, July 9, 2008, Page 11A
TCSG Announces Basic
Law Enforcement
Academies Pilot Project
Special to the Ledger
The Technical College
System of Georgia (TCSG)
Commissioner Ron Jack-
son has announced a pilot
project that will allow new
law enforcement officers
to receive their basic law
enforcement training at a
state technical college and
obtain college credit at the
same time.
The project is a collabora
tion between the TCSG,
the Georgia Public Safety
Training Center (GPSTC),
headed by Director Dale
Mann, and the state Peace
Officers Standards and
Training Council (POST),
led by Executive Director
Ken Vance.
The pilot program also
has the endorsement of
the state Board of Public
Safety, which has been
working steadily over the
past year to craft a long-
range solution to the need
for more space for training
of the state's law enforce
ment officers.
Under the Basic Law
Enforcement Academies
Pilot Project, trainees will
receive a technical certifi
cate of credit (TCC) after-
completion of the program.
With the TCC in hand, the
new law enforcement offi
cers can choose to continue
their education toward a
degree in criminal justice.
Six technical colleges will
participate in the pilot that
is set to begin in January
2009: Augusta Tech, Coosa
Valley Tech, DeKalb Tech,
Ogeechee Tech, Savannah
Tech and South Georgia
Tech.
Expansion of the program
to more of the state tech
nical colleges is possible
as the program is evalu
ated for its level of success.
There are 33 colleges in the
Technical College System
of Georgia.
"’’This is a win-win-win
proposition for the technical
colleges, law enforcement
and, most of all, the safety
of our citizens,” said Jack-
son. "This new plan opens
the door for every trainee
to utilize their basic train
ing as part of a seamless
education process toward a
two-year degree in criminal
justice.”
Most trainees, as a student
enrolled in college credit
courses, will be eligible
to receive Georgia HOPE
grants and federal Pell
grants that will offset the
cost of their technical col
lege education.
"We are pleased to have
been selected as one of the
first technical colleges in
Georgia to participate in
this pilot program,” said
r
South Georgia Technical
College President Sparky
Reeves. "This program will
enhance our ability to sup
port our local and regional
law enforcement agencies as
well as provide additional
training opportunities for
our current students. This
also should help ease the
financial burden associated
with training for many of
the small, rural law enforce
ment agencies.”
In order to create the pro
gram, the development team
of TCSG, GPSTC, POST
and regional law enforce
ment academy personnel
completed a comparison
of curriculum between
existing TCSG criminal
justice courses and POST
Basic Mandate Training.
The result showed that a
large segment of the basic
training content was already
being offered in the techni
cal colleges’ criminal justice
programs.
In order to fulfill all of the
remaining requirements of
the state’s Basic Mandate
Training, like firearms
and driving, the team will
incorporate eight additional
components into the techni
cal college program over the
next six months.
will require all students to
undergo a thorough back
ground check and adhere to
all rules as set forth by the
state POST Council. Stu
dents will also have to meet
minimum scores in English,
reading and math.
The program will take
between 16 and 20 weeks to
complete. All of the techni
cal college teachers involved
in the program will be
POST-certified instructors.
“It makes sense to pursue
a model like we already
have for EMTs, who get
their training at a state
technical college then come
back with their creden
tials in hand and ready to
go to work,” said Mann.
"This pilot project has
the potential to transform
Georgia's basic law enforce
ment training system to a
new era. In doing so, we’re
setting higher standards
and parameters for better-
trained law enforcement
officers and safer communi
ties throughout the state.”
Similar programs already
exist in neighboring states
like North Carolina and
Florida, where 41 of that
state's criminal justice
training sites are located in
their community colleges
Admission standards and technical institutes.
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Clerk of Superior Court
I believe that it is my responsi- office on many occasions. Because
bility to inform you, the voters of
Lee County, of two claims that my
opponent is making in her politi
cal ad in this newspaper that are
not true. Mrs. Clark states that she
has 7 years experience as Clerk of
Superior Court. This is not true be
cause Mrs. Ann Nix was the Clerk
of Superior Court from January
1, 1992 until her retirement De
cember 31, 2006. At the time that
Mrs. Nix retired she appointed me
to complete her term. Mrs., Clark
has never been the Clerk of Lee
County Superior Court. She was
hired by Mrs.. Nix in June 2001
as a deputy clerk and promoted to
chief deputy clerk by me in 2007,
Mrs. Clark also makes the claim
that she has been the secretary
to the Board of Equalization for
three years but this also is not true
because again Mrs. Nix was the
secretary to that board until her
retirement in December 2006.
After I appointed Mrs. Clark as
my chief deputy and time went
on her attitude toward me as her
supervisor changed. As qualifying
time approached Mrs. Clark was
away from her desk and out of the
of the tension created in the office
the morale of the employees was
affected and the trust among them
was destroyed. Due to the atmo
sphere that had been created and
the tension between the personnel
in the office it was in the best inter
est of the office, and the daily ef
ficiency of the office, to terminate
Mrs. Clark. The many different
kinds of records that are recorded
in the clerk's office must be ac
curate. The citizens and taxpayers
of Lee County have too much at
stake and need to know that their
records are properly maintained
and cared for. Mrs. Clark has made
it a point to say that she is a native
of Lee County, I as many of you
am not a native of Lee County, but
that in no way diminishes my abil
ity to be an efficient clerk. In the
twenty plus years that my family
and I have lived in Lee County the
majority of those years have been
spent working for Lee County in
the Superior Court office. Please
vote next Tuesday, July 15th to
allow me to continue being your
Clerk of Superior Court.
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