For the 11th straight year, the Waycross Police Department has earned national accreditation through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (C.A.L.E.A.).
WPD Chief Tommy Cox and a group of his personnel were present to receive the award last month in Omaha, Neb.
“Receiving CALEA Accreditation is one of the highest prof essional achievements a law enforcement agency can earn. I couldn’t be prouder of the men and women of the WPD,” Chief Cox said. “Only about five percent of law enforcement agencies in the nation are CALEA Accredited.
“At WPD, we always strive to be professionals, not only in our attitude, but also in our operations, and accreditation helps us achieve this operationally. Our community deserves a professional department, and we do our best to provide that for them.”
The continuation of the department’s streak of accreditation follows release of statistics in major crime categories revealing a continued downward trend for 2021-25.
The city’s crime index of violent and property cases has shown a 45.2 percent drop over the period. That statistics is a composite of violent crime down 40.1 percent and property crime down 49.5 percent.
Traffic accidents are down 13.1 percent for the period while the average response times to all calls also shows an improvement of a full minute. Response time in 2021 was three minutes, 47 seconds compared to 2:47 in 2025.
Chief Cox has long credited community members for aiding in the departments efforts. He reminded citizens to use the department’s automated, anonymous tip line at (912) 287-2924 if they see something suspicious.
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