Joseph Griffin

Joseph R. Griffin spent the majority of his 16-year law enforcement career training police in dangerous and sometimes desolate locations throughout the world. His life was taken prematurely on December 24, 2012 while performing his police advisor/mentor duties in Kabul, Afghanistan. He was 49 years young. Joe was a veteran of the US Army; Company A, 3rd Battalion, 6th Infantry. He served with the Berlin Brigade and received commendations for training soldiers in Military Operations in Urban Terrain. His awards and accolades were numerous. After graduating from Fulton County Police Academy in 96 he began working for the Newton County Sheriff's Department. In the course of his employment he became a State Certified Field Training Officer for the State of George and selected to attend the Counter Regional Training Drug Task Force in Mississippi. The last twelve years of his career he worked for various training programs throughout the globe. In 2000 he found himself working in conjunction with DynCorp International and the United Nations Mission in Kosovo to train local police. Through local international sources he received certification as as ICITAP International Police Instructor. He helped write the field training, which was used throughout the country and simultaneously contributed to the effort for it to become standard training used in each police academy throughout the burgeoning country. In 2004 Joe's law enforcement career led him to the Leberian Coast of Africa. The United Nations Mission of Leberia awarded Joe the IPS Outstanding Leadership Award. He planned and drafted the entire proposed Police Field Training Program well before the first class of police officers had graduated. The program was adopted nation wide and helped to train and prepare 1800 police officers in less than 15 months. The program is used to this day. He continued his training and advising at the Baghdad Police College in Baghdad Iraq in hopes that the training he provided would help the Iraqi police confidently secure their country's future. 2009 his expertise in training law enforcement led him to Kandahar and Kabul Afghanistan. He worked in conjunction with the Afghan Ministry of the Interior and Afghan National Police Department Program providing training and mentoring services. Joe had just recently become a Master Mason in Kabul but had yet had the honor to meet his Masonic brothers at home. He loved the ocean and fulfilled a childhood dream of diving, which he excelled to Master Diver with one of his specialty certifications being rescue diving. He was an underwater photo hobbyist who took beautiful photos and often described the underwater world as the most peaceful place on earth. In addition to all his achievements he was a greatly loved husband, father, son, and brother. The love, kindness, dedication, he expressed throughout his life will be honored and missed. Joe is survived by his wife Rennae Griffin of Mansfield, Ga; son Timothy Randall Griffin of Frankfurt,Germany; step-son Riley Powell of Mansfield, Ga; mother Shay Bentley Griffin of Cedartown, Ga; father Joseph Elton Griffin of Cedartown, Ga; sister Laura-Shay Griffin of Los Angeles, Ca; grandmother Laura Bentley of Cedartown, Ga; nephews Bentley Griffin Zutaut, Dawson Chesly Zutaut; many other close family members. Funeral services will be held at 3:00 PM on Saturday January 5, 2013 in the chapel of Wheeler Funeral Home. The family will receive friends on Saturday prior to the service from 2:00 PM until service time. Flowers are accepted or donations may be made to the Make A Wish Foundation.

Joseph Griffin

September 11, 1963 - December 24, 2012