Chief Mitchell currently commands the Jail Section.

Chief Mitchell was born in Owensboro, Kentucky and was raised in Clarke and Madison Counties in Georgia. He attended the Northeast Georgia Police Academy, where he attained the highest academic score in his class. Chief Mitchell briefly attended the University of Georgia in 1969. He attended and was named “Dean’s Scholar” of the 100th Administrative Officer’s Course at the Southern Police Institute at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky.

Chief Mitchell has more than thirty-four years of law enforcement experience exclusively within the Athens-Clarke County community. In 1972, he began his career with the Clarke County Sheriff's Office as a deputy. He held assignments in uniform patrol, jail, office, and radio. He was also assigned to warrant service and criminal investigation.

When the Clarke County Police Department formed in 1974, Chief Mitchell transferred to that Department and worked as a detective assigned to the Criminal Investigation Division. Chief Mitchell was promoted to the rank of sergeant in 1976, and continued working within the Criminal Investigation Division. In 1979, Chief Mitchell was promoted to lieutenant and was assigned to the Uniform Division as a shift commander. He held this assignment until 1983, at which time he was transferred to the Criminal Investigation Division.

When the Athens Police Department and Clarke County Police Department unified in 1991, Chief Mitchell was assigned to Internal Affairs. He was responsible for the management of this function and the investigation of serious allegations of officer misconduct and incidents involving the use of force. Chief Mitchell remained in Internal Affairs until November 23, 1998, when he transferred to the Operation Support Division. On October 30, 2000, he transferred back to the Internal Affairs Unit.

Chief Mitchell transferred to the Clarke County Sheriff’s Office on January 1, 2001 and has served Captain in the Administrative Section.

Captain Burke began his law enforcement career in 1978, in his home town of Madison, Georgia. He graduated from the 33rd session of the Northeast Georgia Police Academy. After serving four years as a corrections specialist in the U. S. Marine Corps, he began his service with Clarke County in 1983 as a deputy sheriff in the Jail Section.

Captain Cole currently commands the Field & Court Section which is comprised of the Warrant / Civil Unit and Court Services Unit. His primary duty is to ensure that each unit is carrying out its designated responsibilities in the most safest, productive, and efficient manner.

Captain Cole was born in Gainesville, Georgia and was raised in Manchester, Georgia. In 1991, he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Health/Physical Education from the University of Georgia. Upon graduating, he was a public school teacher for two years before starting his career in law enforcement. His career in law enforcement began with the Athens-Clarke County Police Department in 1994. He was promoted to Senior Police Officer in 1998. Later that same year, he was transferred from the uniform patrol division to the criminal investigation division where he was assigned to investigate sexual assaults, child abuse, and certain juvenile crimes. He transferred to the Clarke County Sheriff's Office at the beginning of 2001.

 

Captain Eric Pozen, was born and raised in Miami, Florida in 1969. He began is law enforcement career as a Miami Metro Dade Police Explorer in 1986. In 1988 he attended the University of South Florida in Tampa and earned his Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice and completed the internship program with the City of Tampa Police Department. Captain Pozen was the Director of the student run crime prevention/escort and patrol service as well as the student coordinator for the University of South Florida Police Departments Student Security Patrol. While at the University of South Florida Captain Pozen was instrumental in the development, funding, and installation of the Southeast Regions first Remote Cellular and Solar Powered Blue Light Emergency Phone System. Upon graduation 1992 he moved to Athens-Clarke County where he became a member of the Athens-Clarke County Police Department. He worked in patrol and in community policing. He then was given the opportunity to become the Police Chief for the City of Winterville in 1996. During his ten year tenure with the City of Winterville he successfully wrote and received many federal and state grants for the city, police, volunteer fire department as well as other local jurisdictions. He completed Chief training, and attended the second class of the Georgia Command College 1998. Upon completion of this program he simultaneously earned his Masters Degree in Police and Public Administration from Columbus State University and his Georgia P.O.S.T. Executive Certification. He is a P.O.S.T. General and Firearms Instructor and has conducted classes for law enforcement and fire departments throughout the Northeast Georgia Region. He teaches cadets at the Athens Regional Police Academy in topics such as firearms, interpersonal communications, community oriented policing, accident report writing, and traffic stops. He has participated in the Georgia State International Law Enforcement Exchange Program to Israel in 2002 where he received information and training from the Israeli National Police and Security Agencies. In 2003 he completed the University Of Georgia Carl Vinson Institute Of Government Local Government Management Development Program. In 2006, Captain Pozen then transferred to work for the University Of Georgia Police Department as a sergeant supervisor in the Patrol Division in order to explore other career and educational opportunities, while still remaining in the Athens area.

In November of 2006 Captain Pozen joined the Clarke County Sheriff's Office as a member of the Command Staff, and responsible for the Administration Section of the Sheriff's Department. He oversees Recruiting, the Hiring Process, Standards and Training, the Internal Investigations Unit, the Certification and Accreditation Process, Community Programs and Education such as the D.A.R.E. and P.R.I.D.E. Programs, and is Public Information and Media Relations Officer. Over his career in law enforcement Captain Pozen has worked for many different law enforcement jurisdictions and environments bringing much experience and understanding to our organization. Captain Pozen has a strong commitment to supporting our goals of continually improving the Clarke County Sheriff's Office through recruiting, training, policy review and implementation, quality control, customer service, community involvement, and education program.