The Peachtree City Police Department has nearly completed its accreditation process with few, if any, problems or delays.

A group of assessors came to town in mid-April on behalf of the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies and spent four full days evaluating the department in virtually every category.

Phone lines were open for four hours the afternoon of April 17 so that citizens could call and make whatever comments, positive or negative, they wished relevant to the process. Those phones were manned by the assessors, and the call-in schedule was advertised to the public in advance.

Later that day, a public hearing took place in the council chambers at City Hall for the same purpose. A total of 18 citizens stepped up to the podium to express their views, according to Sgt. Rosanna Dove, the department's accreditation manager.

The actual number of phone calls logged is not known to the department, nor is the content of any of those calls, Dove said. But there were no negative comments at the hearing.

All of the citizens who spoke related personal experiences in which they encountered police officers in the city and were somehow assisted by them. The assessors were very impressed by the outcome of the 75-minute hearing, Dove said.

The assessors spent most of the Saturday before the hearing riding along with various officers in their patrol cars, observing traffic stops and other typical procedures. Much of the next three days was spent going over the department's files to make certain they were in order.

COLEA lists 439 standards for which the department can gain compliance by issuing reports and written directives. Assessors rate everything from the kinds of uniforms the officers wear and the weapons they carry to how they fill out their reports.

A number of officers were interviewed by the assessors, who had access to anyone they wished to speak with during their visit.

A briefing also was conducted with the command staff before the assessors left town, Dove said, in which “everything was extremely positive.”

A final report will be issued soon, and representatives from the department will travel to Illinois the final weekend in July to be officially reissued accreditation status. The department was first accredited in 1992, then again in 1997. Since then, reaccreditation is required every three years.

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