Georgia mandates election training for police, as officials prepare for a 'volatile' 2024
Georgia will be the first state in the nation to mandate election training for its law enforcement officers, a clear response to growing tensions around election security since the 2020 presidential race.
The Georgia Peace Officer Training and Standards Council recently voted to add the training for new law enforcement officers. The move comes as Georgia election workers and law enforcement gear up for the 2024 election.
Basic training at Georgia’s police academies will soon include POST’s one-hour course on election laws and response, teaching recruits about election interference, threats, de-escalation tactics, and protections against voter intimidation.
Chris Harvey, the deputy executive director of POST, said the training has become a necessity in today’s tense political environment.
“Historically, police officers didn’t get any training about what’s legal or illegal at polling places,” Harvey said, pointing to decades of relatively smooth elections. “Elections were boring. Now, the aftermath of elections is anything but boring.”
Since 2020, there has been a significant spike in the number of threats election workers receive. According to a study from the Brennan Center for Justice, nearly 20% of election officials have been threatened, often by text, phone call, email, or in person.
Harvey has seen the consequences of this firsthand.
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He served as elections director for the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office from 2015 to 2021, just as Georgia was becoming the epicenter for voter intimidation and election interference. Targeted harassment and threats plagued everyone from Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to local elections workers during the 2020 race.
“2024 has the potential to be much more volatile, especially in swing states like Georgia,” Harvey warned. “It's certainly my hope that nothing happens in Georgia, but if it does, don't you want the police officers who are responding to know what the laws are?”
Incidents that were once considered nonissues – like an election worker instructing a voter to cover up their shirt with a candidate’s name on it before entering the polls – may now be seen as evidence of a “rigged election” or “trying to silence” a particular political party, Harvey said.
That heightened political climate can raise the temperature for everyone in a polling place. With their new training, POST believes police departments will be better equipped to respond to election-related calls.
Training will go into effect Jan. 1 for recruits. While that falls after the election, all current officers will be encouraged to take the course before November.
“We think it’s going to be helpful this year,” Harvey said. “It’s an investment in Georgia’s future.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Georgia mandates election training for police officers
