Release:

Valdosta Police Department Welcomes Six New Officers

On Tuesday, July 7, six new officers were sworn in at the Valdosta Police Department.

Billy Cribb, Endrea Carter, Andrea Cartagena, Anamalia Stogner, Aakash Patel, Joshua Van Deraa are the newest members of Valdosta’s police force.

Judge Richard M. Cowart led the swearing-in ceremony.

After participating in in-service training with the VPD training division, the six were supposed to start the police academy in March but were pushed to May due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They went through an accelerated program that consisted of working 12 hour days and weekends in order to graduate in June and not further delay the training schedule.

The group will start Field Training in one week, which usually lasts for about ten to twelve weeks. In total, the new officers will go through close to twenty weeks of training.

“I knew that I wanted to work for the Valdosta Police Department because they are highly accredited and do a lot for the community and that has always been an attribute I hold dear to my heart.” said Officer Anamalia Stogner.