Albany Technical College Criminal Justice & Law Enforcement Summit

ALBANY, Ga. – Albany Technical College opens its doors for a plethora of professionals and experts in the field of criminal justice and law enforcement.

The college recently hosted its inaugural Criminal Justice & Law Enforcement summit, marking a significant milestone in the collaborative efforts to enhance community safety and justice.

“This is the first annual criminal justice and law enforcement summit. About 12 months ago, I charge Mr. Singleton, who is our associate Vice President of Emergency Services here at Albany Technical College, and our Chief of Police Chief Ethridge to put together a summit that we can bring law enforcement personnel together here in a community and across the state to learn from one another. The criminal justice field is a profession that is, well, much needed in our community. We mustn’t take advantage of the hard work hard work that our law enforcement personnel do for safety in the community. So we want to make sure that our profession is well trained and well educated. So we want to provide those necessary services to make our community event better,” said Dr. Emmett Griswold, President, Albany Technical College.

Representatives from various criminal justice and law enforcement departments convened at Albany Technical College for a three-day summit from August 6th to August 8th. The event aimed to improve collective understanding and effectiveness in these fields.

Albany Mayor Bo Dorough addressed the participants, focusing on recruitment and retention challenges, as well as the evolution of the criminal justice & law enforcement sectors.

“Well, recruitment and retention are two very different things. Convincing someone to make law enforcement a profession is the first step, but convincing those individuals that they should remain in law enforcement is a completely separate challenge because once people complete their training and are certified as police officers, then they encounter the day to day challenges of law enforcement officers. It is important for all of us to continue our education and training once we get into a profession. Equally true with law enforcement, as we’ve said today, the dramatic changes with technology dealing with individuals who have mental illness, the public’s perception and interaction with law enforcement is so much different than it was a generation ago. And, here you have law enforcement officers who will receive training, education, advice, instruction that will assist them in performing their duties once they return to their respective departments,” said Bo Dorough, Mayor, City of Albany.

Jennifer Ziifle, Director & Chief of Police of the Technical College System of Georgia Department of Public Safety, highlighted the importance of uniting diverse law enforcement criminal justice officers.

“My office provides oversight and support to our 22 college police departments that are located throughout the Technical College System of Georgia. Together we’re better, always. That’s always going to be the case. So, any time we can come together and learn from each other and work with our partners to overcome obstacles, to look down the horizon and see challenges coming ahead and get out in front of those. Any time we can work with our law enforcement partners and collaborate to solve problems and make quality of life better, both for our officers and our departments and make the profession better and also enhance our relationship with our communities,” said Jennifer Ziifle, Director & Chief of Police, Technical College System of Georgia, Georgia Department of Public Safety.

De’Andra Jacobs reporting.

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