DEMOREST - For the first time in more than a quarter century, the City of Demorest has a new police chief.
Following a closed session that lasted an hour and 20 minutes Tuesday night, the Demorest City Council voted to appoint Robin Krockum as chief of police.
Krockum, whose appointment was effective immediately, succeeds Chief Greg Ellingson, who has served in the position for the past 26 years.
"I'm excited that Robin Krockum, who is not a new face to the City of Demorest, has agreed and this council has moved at the first meeting of this year to place Robin Krockum as chief of police," said Mayor Rick Austin. "His credentials are extraordinarily long. He is a wealth of information, and he brings an awful lot to the table that will move this city and this department forward in a very meaningful way."
At the time of his appointment, Krockum served as patrol commander/training officer/grants manager for the Habersham County Sheriff's Office, supervising 26 deputies within the patrol division, K-9 unit, school resource, SWAT, and the traffic unit. He joined the sheriff's office in 2009.
Prior to that, he served as chief of police in Alto at a department he established.
Krockum served as assistant chief of police in Demorest from 1996-2006.
He also has been a 9-1-1 dispatcher and a security officer.
Krockum received an associate's degree in criminal justice from Lanier Technical College in 2004, a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Columbus State University in 2011 and a master's degree in criminal justice from the University of North Georgia in 2013.
He is a 1995 graduate of the Northeast Georgia Police Academy in Athens, and currently serves as an adjunct instructor at both the Northeast Georgia Police Academy and at North Georgia Technical College.
"Robin Krockum is a significant move for this city — it moves us forward in a very substantial way," Austin said. "I'm very appreciative of him moving to the City of Demorest to help us move our city police department forward."
Asked whether Krockum's appointment will affect current Demorest police officers and their employment, Austin said decisions such as that are the new chief's perogative.
"He has been told that as chief ... that he has free reign to re-evalute and to evaluate where we are as a department, and who is going to be a part of that department," Austin said.
Austin said Krockum is walking into a challenging position, one with high expectations.
"Let's make no mistake, I have set the bar extraordinarily high with the expectations I have for him and that department," Austin said. "I expect him to not only achieve them in this first year, but I expect him to exceed them."
One of the areas Austin said has been of concern to him and others is the low amount of annual training hours achieved by officers within the department.
Krockum has received 3,945 hours of training during his law enforcement career, Austin said as he provided media representatives with copies of that training record.
"We are not going to struggle again in the future trying to get 20 hours of training annually, just so that we can stay state certified," Austin said. "I expect our men to have no less than 100 hours of training. I expect partnerships to be built with Piedmont College and other police departments, and sheriff's offices across this county and across Northeast Georgia to put us where we need to be."
Austin said Krockum was the best fit possible to get and keep the city police department moving in a progressive direction for the future.
"There is no one that we could have hired in this department that brought that level of experience, that level of education, and that level of familiarity and understanding our city having worked for our city that he did for 10 years — no one could have brought all that to the table that he does," Austin said.
The city currently has four full-time police officers, with a fifth position budgeted for a swing shift officer, Austin said.
Krockum being named police chief occurred on a night when the council makes annual appointments for city manager, city clerk, city attorney, city engineer, municipal judge, fire chief, public utilities director, wastewater superintendent and code inspector.
Austin stressed Ellingson will remain with the city in a capacity yet to be determined.
"I am appreciative of Mr. Ellingson and the service that he has given us for the last 26 years," Austin said. "He remains with our program and is going to be a continued, valued city employee."
Asked what led to the decision to change leadership in the police department after 26 years, Austin said, "For two years, I have been working diligently to move this city forward. This is a continuation of moving the city in what I estimate is a substantial step forward, and I'm going to continue to push to see that this city becomes the best that she can be."
Exactly what Ellingson's role as a city employee will be going forth is undetermined.
"His role at this point is still going to be determined," Austin said. "It is largely going to be discussed in conjunction with him. I don't mind telling you that he was called during executive session so that we could discuss a few things with him in order to arrive at the conclusion that we did."
Austin said the underlying factor in any decision made by city leaders should be its benefit to residents.
"At the end of the day, it's not about personalities or anything else," Austin said. "It's about serving our constituents — it's their city, it's not mine. I think the residents have spoken loudly and clearly about what they expect, particularly from public safety. I think they're going to be excited, and I think they're going to be excited when they see the changes that are going to occur in the future."
