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The University of North Georgia (ÐÁÓÈÀïÅ®ÓÅ) Public Safety Academy (PSA) is celebrating its 10th anniversary this month.

One of the only programs of its kind in the nation, the academy allows students to earn a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and receive Basic Law Enforcement Certification by the Peace Officer Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.) Council. This makes them attractive to agencies that would not have to pay for the certification or wait to put the officers in the field.

Dr. Butch Newkirk, PSA director and associate professor of criminal justice, designed the concept in 2012 and has led the academy since it opened its doors. Sallie Parker, coordinator, has been a part of its leadership team since 2017.  Adjunct professors from ÐÁÓÈÀïÅ®ÓÅ and various agencies round out the team of educators within the academy.

"We are a full-service academy at ÐÁÓÈÀïÅ®ÓÅ's Dahlonega Campus," Newkirk said. "It was designed to provide more training, better training, over a longer period of time and teach them what they needed to know."

To attend the academy is an additional $750 fee beyond the expenses for a traditional criminal justice student, and Newkirk said there are several scholarships available to help students, including the .

Bryce Baker '19, from Fayetteville, Georgia, transferred to ÐÁÓÈÀïÅ®ÓÅ as a sophomore and holds a degree in criminal justice with a public safety concentration.

"Attending PSA helped with learning how to balance everything in my life. I wasn't just in college. I was also in the academy and the Corps of Cadets National Service Leadership Track. You have to have a social life in college, too," he said. "It's something I've been able to use in all my positions."

Baker has served as a member of Fayetteville Police Department and is now trooper first class with Georgia State Patrol. 

Madison Comer '20 was a member of the PSA's third class. She learned about the PSA during freshman orientation. She thought getting a degree and P.O.S.T. certification simultaneously was "a no-brainer." Crime scene processing initially interested Comer, but she changed her mind.

"It helped me realize what I was meant to do in my law enforcement career," she said. "As a freshman, I was very shy and thought I wanted to process crime scenes and shy away from the public. The PSA helped me break out of my shell and made me realize I wanted to be out on patrol, interacting with the public and helping them in person, not shying away in a lab or office."

Comer currently serves as an officer in the University of Georgia's Police Department.

"The core objective of ÐÁÓÈÀïÅ®ÓÅ's Public Safety Academy has always been to deliver job-ready officers to law enforcement agencies upon graduation, and we've certainly found that to be the case for us," Gerald Couch, Hall County sheriff, said. "We have ÐÁÓÈÀïÅ®ÓÅ Public Safety Academy graduates serving all across the Hall County Sheriff's Office — as patrol and court deputies, as criminal investigators and as crime scene technicians."

While holding a college degree is not a requirement for launching a law enforcement career with Hall County, Couch said he and his command staff appreciate the fact that ÐÁÓÈÀïÅ®ÓÅ grads come with a degree in hand.

"It certainly shows these men and women are willing to do the extra work in the classroom while also earning their law enforcement certification," Couch said. 

Forsyth County Sheriff Ron Freeman has also seen the value in P.O.S.T.-certified ÐÁÓÈÀïÅ®ÓÅ graduates. So much so that his department decided to partner with ÐÁÓÈÀïÅ®ÓÅ to develop a 20-week advanced training course open to ÐÁÓÈÀïÅ®ÓÅ PSA partner agencies and other law enforcement agencies.

"It was a super easy decision. We saw the quality of a PSA student and we recognized their quality of training," Freeman said. "We wanted to run an advanced academy. It all made all the sense in the world to partner together."

The Forsyth Academy offers 20-week advanced training and belongs to ÐÁÓÈÀïÅ®ÓÅ.

"Our students certified in specialized training such as speed detection and standardized field sobriety while in the basic academy. Additionally, students would take advanced and intermediate courses such as emergency medical response. No one else did this," Parker said. "When Forsyth County decided they wanted to do an academy, they created an academy under us that included the basic academy plus standardized field sobriety, speed detection and other advanced and intermediate courses equaling to a 16-week academy. After seeing the success of this and knowing that Georgia ranked 48th in the U.S. for basic training, P.O.S.T. moved to make our model the standard."

The Forsyth Academy is staffed by Forsyth County Sheriff's Office deputies and fills the need to provide more training in this part of Georgia, Newkirk, a 36-year law enforcement veteran, said.