The Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO) will have 19 class members along for the ride in this year’s Citizens Law Enforcement Academy, which kicked off Tuesday with an orientation and welcome from Sheriff Stacy Nicholson at the Gilmer County Courthouse Jury Assembly Room.
The sheriff’s office has offered the educational CLEA program, which gives participants an up-close, behind-the-scenes look at every department in the agency including the 911 dispatch center and county jail, since 2011.
Nicholson told the incoming class he doubted the program would catch on when CLEA coordinator Lt. George Ellis suggested starting it to give the public a better understanding of how the GCSO operates.
“(They’d done a program like this) in a previous location where George worked in Florida. He said, ‘I think folks up here will enjoy it, and it will be a good opportunity to give some good, positive exposure of the sheriff’s office to the citizens.’ I said, ‘George, nobody’s going to like that (or) want to take their time to come up here and hear all that stuff,’” Nicholson said. “What it came down to is I relented.”
More than 200 class members have since graduated out of the program, which spans 14 weekly sessions and culminates with a graduation.
“It’s turned into something that we feel has been very successful,” Nicholson said. “We’ve had all kinds of accolades from folks who’ve gone through the class. We feel like we’ve had people who came into it who were a little skeptical of the sheriff’s office on night one. But the night they graduate, they stand up and give the greatest testimonial about the experiences they had.”
The main thing was not to sugarcoat what happens day to day in the sheriff’s office, Nicholson noted. When riding along on a shift with a deputy, which all CLEA students are able to do, everything might be calm that particular day. A car crash, shooting or any other emergency situation might just as easily occur.
“My only thing (was) if we’re going to do this, it’s not going to be fluff because people will see through fluff,” Nicholson said. “It (had) to be the real deal and transparent. They’re going to get exactly what we deal with every day, and that’s what we’ve done.”
Ellis, who described himself as the CLEA “tour guide,” said the program is not, as some have mistakenly assumed, a course that grants citizens law enforcement power.
“In reality, it’s a public relations effort to try to bring the community and law enforcement closer together. And it works,” he added.
This year’s CLEA class size is up from last year, when 13 participants enrolled. There have been bigger classes than the current one, but that was before the COVID pandemic, which temporarily put the program on hold, Ellis noted.
“You’re going to be surprised by the amount of experience, knowledge, skills, abilities, training and education all these folks have,” Ellis told new class members during the orientation. “Most people think of a rural sheriff’s office in the north Georgia mountains as, ‘Let me put my bullet in my pocket!’ By the time this class ends, you’re going to realize you can put the knowledge, skills and training in this agency up against any agency in the state of Georgia.”
During the orientation, several CLEA graduates stood and gave their thoughts on the program, while also sharing some of their experiences.
Ann McClannahan, a 2023 CLEA graduate, said the course provided firsthand knowledge that allowed her to be better informed about local law enforcement. She would not have gotten that type of broad overview without taking the class.
“I think you’ll be amazed with the level of professionalism among these officers and how much they do with a limited staff,” she told the 2024 class. “The level of dedication and the extra mile they go to for the citizens in this county will really make you appreciate these officers.”