By Alicia Couch Payne
(Buford, Ga.) — The Buford City School System announced to the North Gwinnett Voice this past January that they had formed the Buford City Schools Department of School Safety and Security. This created a small police force of the Chief plus three additional school resource officers (SROs) that works solely for the school system for the purpose of making sure that children and staff of BCSS stay safe.
The new school police or school resource office is led by Chief Mindy Bayreuther. Bayreuther is a former Assistant Chief with the Gwinnett County Police Department. In 1988, she began her career in law enforcement as a 9-1-1 radio operator and later graduated from the Gwinnett County Police Department in 1991. Bayreuther served the community in numerous roles within the Gwinnett County Police Department including being in command of the South Precinct, North Precinct, and the Special Investigations Section. In 2014, she was promoted to the rank of Assistant Chief where she was in command of the Support Operations Division until her retirement in March of 2018.
Chief Bayreuther comes with an extensive education and training background that includes her being a graduate of Command College. She is also a graduate of the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE) program where she was a student of the 24th Delegation to Israel. Chief Bayreuther earned a masters degree for Public Administration from Columbus State University. With over 3,600 hours of specialized training under her belt during her career, its not surprising that the Georgia Peace Officers Standard and Training Council have awarded Chief Bayreuther with several certifications, including, Intermediate, Advanced, Supervision, Management, and Senior POST Instructor.
Three SRO’s were hired by the school system to work under Chief Bayreuther’s command. Chief Bayreuther officially swore the new officers into duty on June 5 in a small ceremony at Buford City Schools Central Office. Officers Dieffenbacher, Garcia, and McKinley have already been on duty and present at recent school functions. They each come with ample experience from the Gwinnett County Police Department.
“I am excited to have my SRO team on board with the Buford City School System,” states Chief Bayreuther. She says that her team is busy this summer with training and meeting with school officials and are gearing up for the start of the school year. “Our department is looking forward to meeting the students, as well as the community, we will be serving,” says Bayreuther. She goes on to add, “Our new SRO’s come with a wealth of law enforcement and community relations experience.”
Meet the officers who will be making sure the students and staff of BCSS remain safe.
Aaren Dieffenbacher was hired in June of 2019 by Buford. He started his law enforcement career in the United States Air Force in February of 1996 where he served four years as a part of Malmstrom Air Force Base’s 341st Missile Wing’s Security Forces Unit in Great Falls, Mont. Following his military career, he took a job with C & S Wholesale Grocers in Windsor Locks, Conn. where he spent five years in various positions.
Dieffenbacher moved to Georgia and was hired by the Gwinnett County Police Department as a Police Officer Recruit in April of 2007. He graduated from the 71st Gwinnett County Police Academy in September of the same year. While with the Gwinnett PD, Dieffenbacher held several positions. From 2007 to 2010, he was a patrol officer with the North and West precincts. He was later reassigned to the North Precinct as a Crime Prevention Officer in October of 2010 and spent the next three and a half years there. In 2014, Dieffenbacher became the Crime Prevention Coordinator. The Crime Prevention Coordinator was responsible for overseeing all the things that the Crime Prevention Unit was involved with, as well as, being responsible for their two annual festivals, the Public Safety Fall Festival and the Gwinnett Multicultural Festival. He transferred two years later to the Criminal Investigations Division in April of 2016. Dieffenbacher worked on several cases as part of the General Crimes Unit. He earned a promotion to the rank of corporal in August of 2017 and was assigned to the Uniform Division’s East Precinct as a frontline supervisor for the precinct’s patrol officers. Dieffenbacher was called back to the Crime Prevention Unit at the Central Precinct in July of 2018 where he remained until he was hired by BCSS in June of 2019.
Dieffenbacher comes to Buford City Schools with over 2,300 hours of specialized training throughout his career. He has several certifications to include Field Training Officer, Intermediate and Advanced.
Humberto Garcia was born in Cali, Colombia but grew up in Miami, Fla. Garcia spent thirteen years in the food industry before deciding to pursue a law enforcement career. His law enforcement career began as a Patrol Officer with the City of Miami Police. Garcia spent three years with Miami PD before moving to Georgia in 2007. Like Dieffenbacher, Garcia is a graduate of the 71st Gwinnett County Police Academy. After three years as a Patrol Officer, he was appointed as the Community Relations/Compstat Officer for the North Precinct. In 2012, Garcia got the chance to implement the Crime Free Multi-Housing program. The program was designed to reduce crime, drugs, and gangs in apartment communities. Officer Garcia with his love of community and his bilingual skills was able to foster better relationships between officers and the Hispanic residents. Several apartments recorded a 50% reduction in crime and calls for service during the seven years Garcia was a part of that unit. Officer Garcia’s dedication to the CFMH program earned him the Gwinnett County Government’s 2013 MVP award, Gwinnett Rotary Club 2013 Public Service Award and the 2014 National Association of Counties Award. In 2017, he was promoted to the rank of Corporal.
Garcia was hired by the BCSS in June of 2019 with 15 years of law enforcement experience and comes to the new police force with several certifications, including, Intermediate, Advanced, Supervision, Crime Prevention Practitioner and CPTED Designation. Garcia is a 2013 graduate of the Gwinnett Neighborhood Leadership Institute. In his spare time, he likes to volunteer to help those in need.
Angelica McKinley was hired by BCSS in June of 2019 and comes with over 1,744 hours of specialized training during her seven-year law enforcement career. Her career began in March of 2012 with the Gwinnett County Police Department. Officer McKinley has worked as a Uniform Officer at the South Precinct, as well as, a Detective in the Special Victim’s Unit (SVU). She has over 150 hours of training geared towards investigating cases involving victims of sexual and physical abuse. Using her training, McKinley conducted and assisted in over 100 Forensic Interviews with children between the ages of 3-16. She was also a part of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force for the State of Georgia. Officer McKinley was promoted to the rank of Corporal in March of 2018 and as a Corporal, she trained new detectives assigned to SVU. She also acted as a supervisor when needed. She served as an Instructor for the Gwinnett County Police Department Youth Police Academy as well.
Officer McKinley holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Troy University. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Alabama State University. The Georgia Peace Officers Standard and Training Council has awarded Officer McKinley several certifications, including, POST Instructor and Child First during her law enforcement career.
No doubt the campuses of the Buford City School System will be all the better for having this experienced force of school resource officers watching over it.
Welcome Officers Dieffenbacher, Garcia, and McKinley!
