Personnel
Tom Mackel
Director of Public Safety
The Department spends a great deal of time and effort in the selection of its police officers. The Department advertises widely when a position comes open and attempts to attract an educated and diverse applicant pool. It is the philosophy of the Department that an educated person makes for a better police officer. For this reason, Public Safety places an emphasis on recruiting applicants who possess a college degree or are currently working towards one. Currently, approximately 50 percent of all police personnel have a 4 year degree or are actively pursuing one.
In order to be selected for employment as a police officer, the applicant must pass a series of interviews, a detailed background check, drug screen, psychological examination and physical agility test. This process presents the Department with the type of person capable of providing a high level of service to the University community.
If the person is not a certified police officer when hired, the Department will send the officer to the police academy for mandate training. Following the required 384 hours of basic police training as required by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council (POST), the officer is assigned to a training officer. This senior officer will instruct the new officer on departmental procedures and how to police in a campus environment. Once the officer has completed his or her field training, they are provided with advanced training opportunities. These classes are held either at the Public Safety Training Facility in Forsyth, Georgia or on campus utilizing our own POST certified instructors. These courses serve to improve the officer's ability to handle any of the varied problems they may face.
