MACON, Ga. — As protests have spread across the United States, law enforcement agencies across the country are examining their internal policies.
The Bibb County Sheriff's Office is no exception.
Sheriff David Davis says their review is ongoing, but so far "in this short of time we've not really seen anything...policy-wise" to change, but he said "some things as far as technique and procedure may change."
He also says his office already follows many of the policies and procedures other departments, like in Fort Valley, are committing to.
Davis says his agency executes about a dozen no-knock search warrants a year, a small fraction of the total number of warrant searches conducted every year.
According to the sheriff, they use them only when deputies feel a more typical warrant would be unsafe, like if they believe a suspect has guns in the home and is likely to use them.
"There are certain circumstances when...someone's life may be in jeopardy by an announced knock at the door," he said.
Davis said the sheriff's office is careful to make sure traffic enforcement is spread equally across the county, but he's open to an outside audit of his records by academic researchers to confirm the law is being upheld equally.
"If anybody wants to come in and look at our records or do it through the court we can do it," he said.
Davis also noted his office has had a longstanding policy of handing over all serious deputy use of force investigations to the GBI.
He said that he thinks most law enforcement officers do their jobs well.
"Most of the people that come to work and pin the badge on are dedicated, hard working, committed people" said Davis.
Officers responsible for incidents of gross misconduct, he said, are "just a small percentage of [all] law enforcement officers."
But he'd like to see a national database created to track those bad actors--specifically officers who have been disciplined for serious misconduct, so departments across the country can make more informed hiring decisions.
He'd like to see it track "excessive use of force [and] actionable (complaints) against officers that resulted in a termination."
He's also been closely following the fatal shooting of Rayshard Brooks at the hands of an Atlanta police officer.
Speaking before charges against two officers involved were announced Wednesday afternoon, Davis said it's important to understand officers have to make "split second" decisions on the job.
The shooting, he said "has to be looked at in the lens of state law, court cases, and policy to see if all of those things were fit."
But he also said the incident could be a "teaching moment" for other officers.
"It gives us an opportunity to look and see this is what can happen if you chase somebody, this is what can happen in a situation like this, these are alternatives that you may take that do not require you to have to take that chance of hurting yourself or another officer," said Davis.
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