Captain  Copeland is an 26-year veteran law enforcement officer, beginning his career in Moultrie, Georgia in 1998. He also served with the Woodstock and Holly Springs, Georgia Police Departments before coming to the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office in 2005. During his law enforcement career, Captain Copeland has served in such varied positions as a patrol officer, detective, uniform division commander, administrative division commander and was the interim Chief of Police in Holly Springs, Georgia. Since joining our agency, Captain Copeland has served as a patrol deputy, court deputy, detective, internal affairs investigator, public information officer and division commander.

Captain Copeland serves as the commander of the Human Resources, Sexual Offender and Background Investigations and Certification Units. Captain Copeland is a member of the National Internal Affairs Investigators Association. He is also a State of Georgia Law Enforcement Certification Assessor and Certification Manager. Captain Copeland is certified as an Accreditation Manager by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) Captain Copeland is a graduate of the State of Georgia’s Law Enforcement Professional Management Program. During his career, Captain Copeland has completed over 1900 hours of advanced and in-service training.