Douglas Police Chief Shane Edmisten has accepted the police chief’s position in Lavonia. His last day with the Douglas Police Department is March 14. Lavonia is a small town of about 2,200 located 42 miles northeast of Athens.
“I would like to thank the officials and the citizens of Douglas for their support over the last four years. I have been honored to serve this community during that time and I believe together, we have made a tremendous difference for the better in Douglas and Coffee County. I will cherish the relationships and partnerships we forged together, and I look forward to continuing this next chapter of my law enforcement career,” states Chief Edmisten.
The City of Lavonia has issued a press release announcing Chief Edmisten’s hiring. “I think Chief Edmisten will be an asset, will bring a lot of positive change to the Department, and help the Department build towards the future,” he said. “He’s very accomplished. He puts a lot of emphasis on training. He has a humble demeanor, which goes a long way when you’re dealing with people in a small town. He struck me as the type of person who really believes in investing in his officers and helping them find opportunities for advancement and continued training.”
Former Lavonia chief Bruce Carlisle, who served for 14 years before retiring at the end of last November, knows Chief Edmisten well. “Shane is more than qualified for the position. He will come in and examine every function of the Police Department and see if there are things that can be done better,” Carlisle said in the press release. “He will bring new initiatives to the Police Department. For the citizens, he believes in community-oriented policing. He’ll take what’s already there and build on it. And the citizens will certainly benefit from that. And I look at this as a win, win, win for the City of Lavonia. He brings a lot to the City of Lavonia and I certainly applaud the Mayor and Council members for looking outside the box. When you look for a police chief you certainly want to find the most qualified. And they absolutely hit it out of the park on this one.”
The Douglas City Commission hired Edmisten in February of 2019 following the retirement of Chief Gary Casteloes.
Chief Edmisten’s first day of work in Lavonia is expected to be March 27. The City of Douglas has not issued a statement regarding an interim chief or a timeline for hiring Edmisten’s replacement.