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As City Marshal, Mike has made numerous improvements to bring modern policing to DeFuniak Springs:

Started the process to have the DeFuniak Springs Police Department officially accredited

Created policy and procedure manual

Mandated the documentation of any use of force by an officer

Implemented a modern vehicle pursuit policy (under accredited standards)

Mandated bi- annual training for all high liability areas (firearms-use of force)

Totally revamped evidence-handling

Implemented a standardized promotional process (weighted scale based on education/experience/training and interview)

Implemented a standardized disciplinary procedure with progressive levels of disciple and built in reviews.

Started a citizen’s advisory committee (CAC) to gain insight and improve communication with the citizens of DeFuniak Springs

Started an annual Dinner with the Marshal program where the public comes out for a dinner with its police department. Mike answers questions from the public and presents an annual state of the department

Actively pursued additional non-budgeted sources of review to augment the department resulting in approximately $500,000 in grants and donated equipment

Established a 24-hour customer service/dispatch center. The center was completed at approximately $200,000 under budget. 

Standardized forms used at the department and had them created electronically to improve the quality of reports

Located $85,000 in funding that had been erroneously placed in the city’s general fund for over 10 year 

Ended the practice of mandatory 12 hours overtime without pay (Kelly Rule) and implemented a 40-hour work week.

Led the successful effort to get the city to provide holiday compensation to the police department. Police officers had been forced to work holidays without any compensation.  (NO holiday pay or compensatory time)

Raised the starting salary from $22,500 to $29,500, the largest adjustment in pay in the department’s history
 

ON NOVEMBER 4, PLEASE VOTE MIKE ADKINSON, JR. FOR WALTON COUNTY SHERIFF
 

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