Atlanta – Saturday, September 19, 2015, the State Board of Pardons and Paroles hosted the bimonthly meeting of the Georgia Chapter of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives or NOBLE.

NOBLE is a professional organization for law enforcement officials and criminal justice practitioners. The NOBLE Georgia Chapter meeting today included training for its members and a business session.

“We want to thank the Parole Board for hosting this meeting today and partnering with us to improve public safety and our communities through public service,” said Chapter President Robert Ford.

The Georgia Chapter is planning for its annual training conference ending with an award and scholarship banquet in November. Leadership training will be provided to criminal justice professionals from across the state and several scholarships will be awarded to college freshman for their community service, leadership, and studies in criminal justice. The Chapter also announced it has won the bid to host the 41st Annual NOBLE National Training Conference in 2017 which will be held in Atlanta.

Parole Board Member Braxton Cotton is a member of NOBLE and an officer for the Georgia Chapter, serving as state liaison.

Cotton says NOBLE is a community service organization.

“Through our community service projects, our goal is to create safer and stronger communities in Georgia,” stated Cotton at today’s meeting.

Deputy Executive Director of Parole Rita Rocker says the meeting provided a unique opportunity.

“We were happy to be able to host this meeting of the Georgia Chapter of NOBLE. Opportunities such as this enables the Board to build upon existing relationships and allows for our staff to have additional exposure to excellent organizations,” stated Rocker.

NOBLE has nearly 60 chapters and represents over 3,000 members worldwide that represent chief executive officers and command-level law enforcement officials from federal, state, county, and municipal law enforcement agencies and criminal justice practitioners.

The Georgia Chapter has a membership of approximately 300 law enforcement professionals representing approximately 100 Georgia criminal justice agencies.

To learn more about NOBLE, please visit the Georgia Chapter at http://www.ganoble.org.

For more information about the Parole Board you may contact the Office of Communications, Director Steve Hayes, at 404-657-9450 or [email protected], also visit www.pap.georgia.gov.

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