Dalton Police Department swears in four new officers

Eduardo Mendiola, Timothy Childers, Matthew Grubbs, and Christopher Akins pose with Chief Cliff Cason on Tuesday morning before being sworn in as officers (Dalton Police Department)

DALTON, Ga. (WDEF) — The Dalton Police Department (DPD) swore in four new officers at their monthly Public Safety Commission meeting.

Those four officers are from the greater Dalton area. They all completed their police academy training last week, according to city officials.

Those four new officers are Christopher Akins, Timothy Childers, Matthew Grubbs and Eduardo Mendiola.

Akins is a 23-year-old graduate of Northwest Whitfield High School. Childers, 21, also graduated from the same school. He also has previous experience working as a correctional officer.

Grubbs is a Coahulla Creek High School graduate, who earned his bachelor’s degree from Dalton State College in 2021. Mendiola is a Southeast Whitfield graduate. Both Grubbs and Mendiola worked for Shaw Industries before joining the police department.

These four officers are now in the DPD field training program. In this program, they will ride with veteran mentor officers for six months. Following that, they will earn solo status.

City Attorney Terry Miller swore in these officers. They took their oaths of office in front of the City Council Chambers.