DCP Capt. Tom Jackson attends Chief Executive Training Class

ALBANY — Capt. Tom Jackson of the Dougherty County Police Department, along with 47 other state officers, participated recently in a Chief Executive Training Class for newly appointed chiefs of police and heads of law enforcement agencies at the Dr. Curtis E. McClung Training Center in Duluth.

According to Jackson, the training class is primarily for executive chiefs in law enforcement, but it is also open to command staff to attend. He explained that it is competitive for command staff to be selected to participate in the class and interested attendees are placed on a waiting list.

“I enjoyed the training,” Jackson said. “It was a well of knowledge that will make me a better manager and police officer in general.”

For the week and a half of training, he said that courses cover “everything you can experience in a management position,” such as risk management, policy and procedures, and pretty much anything a chief or command staff encounters on the job.

Asked what class he enjoyed or learned the most from, Jackson said, “The biggest ones to me were policy and procedure. Policy and procedure is the lifeline of a department.”

Speakers and instructors featured chiefs with the level of experience to instruct fellow officers.

“There’s a magnitude of information you pick up,” Jackson said. “Chiefs from across the state give the majority of the classes. They relay their experience as chiefs so you learn a lot of information from that.

“Other chiefs tell you what they do to manage their departments, and they address department morale and how to motivate. The biggest issue right now in law enforcement is the hiring and retention of employees.”

Jackson has been with the Dougherty County Police Department for 26 years and has been a part of the command staff for almost eight years.

The training course is designed to give newly appointed law enforcement administrators and command staff personnel training on police management, as well as inform them of laws and policies affecting their departments. The course is 60 hours long and includes topics such as:

— Managerial liability and EEOC laws;

— Police manpower, allocation and staffing;

— Community policing, budget administration;

— Political and practical realities;

— Risk management;

— Entrust-Empower-Expect;

— Media relations;

— Departmental organization;

— Employee selection process;

— Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training overview;

— Promotional systems;

— United States Department of Justice programs;

— Leadership/management role of the chief;

— Employee performance and employee discipline;

— Legislative process;

— Social media for law enforcement leaders.

“The Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police is pleased to provide executive-level training for the professional development of Georgia’s new law enforcement leaders,” GACP President Joseph Wirthman of the Jefferson Police Department said in a press release.

With more than 1,700 members, the GACP provides executive training for heads of law enforcement agencies and command staff twice a year. It is the largest professional association for law enforcement administrators in Georgia with members from municipal and county law enforcement agencies, college and university police departments, corporate and private security firms, and numerous state and federal agencies.

For more information about the GACP, visit their website at gachiefs.com.