The Cobb County Police Department is committed to providing effective and efficient police services to the citizens and businesses of Cobb County with integrity, honor, professionalism, respect, courage and commitment. We pledge to enforce all laws and ordinances in a fair, consistent, compassionate, ethical and impartial manner, while recognizing the statutory and judicial limits of our authority, and respecting the constitutional and personal rights of all individuals.

The Cobb County Police Department is dedicated to continuing to build safer communities and improving “Quality of Life” for all citizens by creating and maintaining community and business partnerships based on trust, transparency and mutual respect, while integrating these partnerships with the skill and knowledge of personnel, and their commitment to the
departments law enforcement mission.

The Cobb County Police Department is committed to servicing the community in the most effective and efficient manner, while continuing to build and reinforce the need for community partnership and trust. Each person who represents the police department, sworn and non-sworn, is expected to abide by the departments Core Values and conduct themselves in accordance with the departments Tenets of Conduct.

Both the Core Values and Tenets of Conduct are very important in reminding departmental personnel and the community that the trust and responsibility given are not taken lightly, and that we have a duty to represent the department, community and law enforcement in a positive manner with our actions, interpersonal contact, and level of service.

• Integrity
• Honor
• Professionalism
• Respect
• Courage
• Commitment

• Treat each other and the Community with respect.
• Think of a problem as just an opportunity to find a solution.
• Be a positive representative of the department, the community and the law enforcement profession, both on and off duty.
• Service the community as you would want a family member to be serviced.

IACP's Police Operations and Management Study of the CCPD

As a Law Enforcement Officer, my fundamental duty is to serve mankind; to protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation, and the peaceful against violence or disorder; and to respect the Constitutional rights of all persons to liberty, equality and justice.

I will keep my private life unsullied as an example to all; maintain courageous calm in the face of danger, scorn or ridicule; develop self-restraint; and be constantly mindful of the welfare of others. Honest in thought and deed in both my personal and official life, I will be exemplary in obeying the laws of the land and the regulations of my department. Whatever I see or hear of a confidential nature or that is confided in me in any official capacity will be kept secret unless revelation is necessary in the performance of my duty.

I will never act officiously or permit personal feelings, prejudices, animosities or friendships to influence my decisions. With no compromises for crime and with relentless prosecution of criminals, I will enforce the law courteously and appropriately without fear or favor, malice or ill will, never employing unnecessary force or violence and never accepting gratuities.

I recognize the badge of my office as a symbol of public faith, and I accept it as a public trust to be held so long as I am true to the ethics of police service. I will constantly strive to achieve these objectives and ideals, dedicating myself before God to my chosen profession - Law Enforcement.

On my honor, I will never betray my badge, my integrity, my character, or the public trust.

I will always have the courage to hold myself and others accountable for our actions.

I will always uphold the constitution and community I serve.

• Honor means that one's word is given as a guarantee.
• Betray is defined as breaking faith with the public trust.
• Badge is the symbol of your office.
• Integrity is being the same person in both private and public life.
• Character means the qualities that distinguish an individual.
• Public trust is a charge of duty imposed in faith toward those you serve.
• Courage is having the strength to withstand unethical pressure, fear or danger.
• Accountability means that you are answerable and responsible to your oath of office.
• Community is the jurisdiction and citizens served.

My badge is a symbol of my dedication and commitment to integrity, truth, morality and justice. To protect the peaceful from violence, the weak from oppression and the innocent from deception.

As an employee of the Cobb County Police Department, I regard myself as a member of an important and honorable profession. With that in mind, I will:

• Keep myself in a state of physical and mental condition that allows me to perform my assigned duties.
• Perform my duties with efficiency to the best of my ability.
• Be truthful at all times, my conduct and performance of duties will be accomplished in an honest manner, and I will comply with the law; Local, County, State and Country.
• Not use my official position for unethical advantage or personal profit.
• Recognize at all times that, I am a public safety employee, and that ultimately I am responsible to the public.
• Give the most efficient and impartial service of which I am capable at all times.
• Be courteous and respectful in all my contacts with the public and fellow employees.
• Be loyal to my fellow employees, my supervisors, and my agency.
• Accept responsibility for my actions.
• Strive to do only those things that will reflect honor on my fellow employees, my agency and myself.

The Cobb County Police Department is proud to be nationally accredited through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). Below is information pertaining to the history of accreditation, the standards and the process.

History of Accreditation

Image

The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) was formed in 1979, by the IACP, NOBLE, NSA, and PERF, to establish a body of standards designed to:

• Increase law enforcement agency capabilities to prevent and control crime;
• Increase agency effectiveness and efficiency in the delivery of law enforcement services;
• Increase cooperation and coordination with other law enforcement agencies and with other agencies of the criminal justice system; and
• Increase citizen and employee confidence in the goals, objectives, policies, and practices of the agency.

In addition, the Commission was formed to develop an accreditation process that provides law enforcement agencies an opportunity to voluntarily demonstrate that they meet an established set of professional standards. The final draft standards were approved on May 1, 1982. The standards have changed many times since then.

The Accreditation Standards

The Standards Manual contains several hundred standards, organized into many different chapters, or topic areas. In the Commission’s view, the standards reflect the best professional requirements and practices for a law enforcement agency. The standards’ requirements provide a description of “what” must be accomplished by the applicant agency but allows that agency wide latitude in determining “how” it will achieve its compliance with each applicable standard. This approach allows independence and is the key to understanding the universal nature and flexibility of the standards approved by the Commission. The Standards Manual is amended at regular intervals - new standards added, old ones revised or deleted, chapter introduction and glossary items changed, etc. Since initial approval, the standards have undergone many interpretations, adjustments, and amendments. Each standard is composed of three parts: the standard statement, the commentary, and the levels of compliance.

• The standard statement is a declarative sentence that places a clear – cut requirement, or multiple requirements, on an agency.
• The commentary supports the standard statement but is not binding.
• The levels of compliance indicate whether a given standard is mandatory (M), other-than-mandatory (O), or not applicable due to size (N/A). The fourth letter at the end of each standard refers to Cobb County’s level of compliance (M M M M).

The Accreditation Process

There are five general phases or steps in the accreditation process:

1. APPLICATION: The accreditation process begins when an agency applies to the Commission for applicant status. Entry into the program is voluntary, and the application form requires the signature of the agency’s chief executive officer. The Cobb County Police Department signed an application with CALEA in August 2001.
2. SELF-ASSESSMENT: Agency self-assessment involves a thorough examination by the agency to determine whether it complies with all applicable standards. The agency creates policy and prepares “proofs of compliance” for applicable standards.
3. ON-SITE ASSESSMENT: The Commission selects and trains a team of assessors free of conflict with the candidate agency, and schedules an on-site review of the agency. During the on-site visit, the assessors, acting as representatives of the Commission, review all standards and, in particular, verify the agency’s compliance with all applicable standards. The assessors submit a formal, written report of their on-site activities and findings. The first on-site assessment of the Cobb County Police Department occurred in January 2005.
4. COMMISSION REVIEW: The Commission reviews the final report and receives testimony from agency personnel, assessors, staff, or others. If satisfied that the agency has met all compliance requirements, the Commission awards the agency accredited status. We were awarded [initial] accredited status by the Commission in March 2005 at the Birmingham (Spring) Conference.
5. MAINTAINING COMPLIANCE AND REACCREDITATION: Accreditation is for a three-year period. To maintain accredited status, the accredited agency must remain in compliance with all applicable standards. At the conclusion of the three-year period, the Commission offers the agency an opportunity to repeat the process and continue accredited status into the future. The Department regularly revises policy and gathers documents to prove our continued compliance with the standards.