About the Cornelia Police Department

Cornelia is nestled around the beautiful Northeast Georgia Mountains, in the Hills of Habersham. The city has approximately 4000 citizens living in the city with a daytime population of over 15,000. The Cornelia Police Department consists of eighteen full time Police Officers and three support personnel.

Rick Darby is a veteran police officer and an Ordained Minister. He currently serves as the Police Chief of the Cornelia Police Department (Georgia). He has had the opportunity to teach over 5000 law enforcement officers both locally and internationally. Rick has written feature articles for local newspapers and law enforcement training curriculum. His passion for people has allowed him to appear on local, national and international radio and television. He has also worked with troubled youth and taught Drug Education in Public Schools. 

Rick Darby is the author of The Boyz in the Grove.  According to the book description, “set in the late 1960's and early 1970's two old friends reminisce after not seeing each other for twenty years and the story begins to unfold. Jacob Hartley and Rick Darby reconnect in a hospital room and mutually agree not to talk about an incident that occurred thirty-four years earlier. Jacob asks Rick to share some of their childhood stories to bring him some peace during his last days of life. As Rick begins to share in the Southern style only he can, others show up to hear a story or two. He even shares one of his stories with a group of nurses. During that story he gets a little surprise that catches him off guard. After a day at the hospital Rick prepares to leave when Jacob throws him a curve. His request was more than Rick had bargained for.”