Title 35, Chapter 8, Section 2
( 35-8-2)
As used in this chapter, the term: (1) "Applicant" means a prospective peace officer who has not
commenced employment or service with a law enforcement unit. (2) "Candidate" means a peace officer who, having satisfied
preemployment requirements, has commenced employment with a law
enforcement unit but who has not satisfied the training
requirement provided for in this chapter. (3) "Council" means the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and
Training Council. (4) "Department head" means the chief executive or head of a state
department or agency, a county, a municipality, or a railroad who
is a peace officer and whose responsibilities include the
supervision and assignment of one or more employees or the
performance of administrative and managerial duties of a police
agency or law enforcement unit. Such term does not include the
Attorney General, the director of the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics
Agency, a district attorney, a solicitor general, a county or
municipal fire chief, or peace officers employed exclusively as
investigators of any such offices who do not exercise any law
enforcement supervisory or managerial duties. The provisions of
this paragraph shall not apply to any sheriff or to any head of
any law enforcement unit within the office of sheriff. (4.1) "Detention facility" means a municipal or county jail used
for the detention of persons charged with or convicted of a
felony, a misdemeanor, or a municipal or county ordinance, but
shall not include a facility customarily used to hold one or more
persons for a period not to exceed eight hours while any such
person awaits processing, booking, court appearance, or release. (5) "Emergency peace officers" means any peace officers who are
employed or appointed to act as peace officers during an emergency
or disaster which has been so declared by the chief executive
officer of the state and whose status as peace officers is
intended to be temporary and for that limited purpose. (5.1) "Jail officer" means any person who is employed or appointed
by a county or a municipality and who has the responsibility of
supervising inmates who are confined in a municipal or county
detention facility. (5.2) "Juvenile correctional facility" means a facility operated
by the Department of Juvenile Justice and used for the detention
of youth who are delinquent or who are alleged to be delinquent or
a facility operated by the Department of Juvenile Justice used for
the care, treatment, and rehabilitation of juvenile offenders. (5.3) "Juvenile correctional officer" means any person employed or
appointed by the Department of Juvenile Justice who has the
primary responsibility for the supervision and control of youth
confined in its programs and facilities. (6) "Law enforcement support personnel" means persons, other than
peace officers, whose primary employment with a law enforcement
unit consists of performing functions directly related to the
prevention, detection, or investigation of crime. (7) "Law enforcement unit" means: (A) Any agency, organ, or department of this state, a
subdivision or municipality thereof, or a railroad whose primary
functions include the enforcement of criminal or traffic laws,
the preservation of public order, the protection of life and
property, or the prevention, detection, or investigation of
crime; (B) The Office of Permits and Enforcement of the Department of
Transportation, the Department of Juvenile Justice and its
institutions and facilities for the purpose of personnel who are
authorized to exercise the power of arrest and who are employed
or appointed by said department or institutions, and the office
or section in the Department of Juvenile Justice in which
persons are assigned who have been designated by the
commissioner to investigate and apprehend unruly and delinquent
children; and (C) The Department of Corrections, the State Board of Pardons
and Paroles, municipal correctional institutions employing 300
or more correctional officers, and county correctional
institutions for the purpose of personnel who are authorized to
exercise the power of arrest and who are employed or appointed
by said department, board, or institutions. (8) "Peace officer" means, for purposes of this chapter only: (A) An agent, operative, or officer of this state, a subdivision
or municipality thereof, or a railroad who, as an employee for
hire or as a volunteer, is vested either expressly by law or by
virtue of public employment or service with authority to enforce
the criminal or traffic laws through the power of arrest and
whose duties include the preservation of public order, the
protection of life and property, and the prevention, detection,
or investigation of crime; (B) An enforcement officer who is employed by the Department of
Transportation in its Office of Permits and Enforcement and any
person employed by the Department of Juvenile Justice who is
designated by the commissioner to investigate and apprehend
unruly and delinquent children; (B.1) Personnel who are authorized to exercise the power of
arrest, who are employed or appointed by the Department of
Juvenile Justice, and whose full-time duties include the
preservation of public order, the protection of life and
property, the detection of crime, or the supervision of
delinquent and unruly children in the department's institutions,
facilities, or programs; (C) Personnel who are authorized to exercise the power of arrest
and who are employed or appointed by the Department of
Corrections, the State Board of Pardons and Paroles, municipal
correctional institutions employing 300 or more correctional
officers, county probation systems, and county correctional
institutions; and
(D) An administrative investigator who is an agent, operative,
investigator, or officer of this state whose duties include the
prevention, detection, and investigation of violations of law
and the enforcement of administrative, regulatory, licensing, or
certification requirements of his or her respective employing
agency. Law enforcement support personnel are not peace officers within
the meaning of this chapter, but they may be certified upon
voluntarily complying with the certification provisions of this
chapter. (9) "Retired peace officer" means a retired law enforcement
officer who, prior to his or her retirement from service with the
state or a subdivision or municipality thereof, was a peace
officer within the meaning of such term as defined in paragraph
(8) of this Code section. A retired peace officer may be certified
or registered upon voluntarily complying with the certification or
registration provisions of this chapter. Such term shall also
mean a retired law enforcement officer who retired from service
with the United States who meets all criteria as specified by the
council for such classification; provided, however, that such
classification shall not exempt such officer from satisfying the
minimum employment and training requirements of this chapter if
such officer is appointed or employed as a peace officer by the
state or a subdivision or municipality thereof. (10) "School" means any school, college, university, academy, or
training program approved by the council which offers basic law
enforcement training and which consists of a combination of a
course curriculum, instructors, and facilities. (11) "Speed detection device" means that particular device
designed to measure the speed or velocity of a motor vehicle and
marketed under the name "Vascar," any device designed to measure
the speed or velocity of motor vehicles using the Doppler
principle of radio detection and ranging and commonly marketed
under the name "radar," or any similar device, including but not
limited to laser, operating under the same or similar principle,
which device is approved by the Department of Public Safety for
the measurement of speed, including any device for the measurement
of speed or velocity based upon the Doppler principle of radar or
speed timing principle of laser. |