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Chief Mac outlines training, enforcement operations and new community programs
Summary
Chief Mac told the council that since June the department has expanded leadership training, accreditation work and community-engagement programs and carried out multiple enforcement operations with arrests and significant seizures.
At the Nov. 11 meeting, Chief Mac told the Decatur City Council and public that the department had instituted training and community-engagement measures and reported enforcement activity since June 2.
Chief Mac said supervisory and command-level leadership courses are mandatory for officers and that the department will begin the FBI’s three-course leadership “trilogy” in February, a program that typically takes a year and a half. He said mental-health first-aid training for first responders is scheduled for Jan. 26, 2026.
To increase community contact, Chief Mac described a ‘good morning’ card program that requires officers to exit vehicles, check businesses and note time and name; he said the program has yielded more than 1,200 cards logged and helped officers engage with residents who request extra checks while away from home.
On enforcement, Chief Mac summarized three recent operations: “operation first light” (32 arrests, 46 charges), a BeltLine traffic blitz (568 traffic stops, 246 citations, 172 warnings and 4 DUIs over a multi-day effort), and a domestic-violence‑focused operation that netted 19 individuals and 27 charges. He also reported 12 search warrants executed that yielded approximately 30 pounds of marijuana, 14 ounces of synthetic marijuana, about 1.2 pounds of methamphetamine, approximately 1 ounce of cocaine, nine firearms, 58 illegal prescription pills and about $12,000 in currency seized.
Chief Mac said the department passed a national CALEA audit and is expanding public-information staffing to improve transparency. He framed the steps as part of rebuilding trust and credited staff training and strategic operations for recent results.
What’s next: the department will proceed with scheduled training and continue targeted operations and community engagement efforts; Chief Mac said the training and accreditation work will strengthen department professionalism.
