Community Corner
Decatur Police Name Information Officer
Jennifer Ross, who has supervised criminal investigations, will assume the new position July 8. Decatur City Hall also plans to hire a public information officer.
The Decatur Police Department has named department veteran Sgt. Jennifer Ross the department's first Community Information and Education Officer.
Her duties will include talking to the media. Deputy Chief Keith Lee has been handling those duties, among many others. This job was not public advertised.
The City of Decatur also plans to hire its first dedicated public information officer (PIO).
The city had 250 applicants and hopes to have that job filled by the end of summer, said Linda Harris, who works in the development office and has been the de facto PIO.
Here's what the police department said about Ross:
Decatur Police Chief Mike Booker would like to announce the creation of a new position within the police department. As of July 8, 2013, Sgt. Jennifer S. Ross will serve as the Community Information and Education Officer.
Sgt. Ross will function as the public information officer, social media coordinator and community relations officer, as well as work to expand the crime prevention and public education efforts of the police department.
The goal of this new position is to provide a more accessible officer to community members, expedite information sharing, promote improved communication between the police department and community and work to improve and increase educational programs on behalf of the police department.
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Sgt. Ross has been with the department since 1996 and served as a communications officer, patrol officer, business district officer, child safety advocate and investigator. Sgt. Ross has served as the supervisor over the Criminal Investigations Division since 2009.
Patch asked Harris about the appointment. Here's her reply by email:Sgt. Jennifer Ross is an excellent choice to serve as Community Information and Education Officer within and for the police department.
She will be an integral part of the communications team that will include representatives from each city department and division that will become active once we hire the PIO for the City of Decatur.
We had 250 applicants for the City of Decatur PIO and we are working our way through them carefully. We hope to have the position filled before the end of the summer.
Find out what's happening in Decatur-Avondale Estateswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
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