Retired Commander (2011), Khalfani B. Yabuku joined the Atlanta Police Department in 1984. He witnessed the Atlanta Police Department undertake many transitions over the years. During the course of Sifu Khalfani's career as a member of the Atlanta Police Department, he served in numerous capacities at one of the most challenging police departments recognized in the southern U.S.
Sifu Khalfani is a diverse law enforcement and military professional.
Sifu Khalfani began his career in law enforcement at the age of 18 when he served in the US Army Military Police Corps for 4 years, leading up to a 10 year stint as a Military Intelligence / Counter-Terrorism Special Agent Supervisor. He was awarded the US Army's EIB, PFT and Airborne badges among other distinguished decorations and commendations.
In 1984, Sifu Khalfani patrolled the toughest streets of Atlanta as a beat officer for 4 years. His zone Commander, recognizing that he had special tactical and survival skills within him, assigned Sifu Khalfani to the TAC(tical) Unit in 1988. Serving in this capacity allowed him the opportunity to conduct citywide decoy, undercover, stakeout and surveillance operations. The TAC squad was responsible for bringing to an end a crime spree of convenience store robberies and rapes plaguing the city at that time.
Sifu Khalfani has nearly a decade of experience as a highly trained Special Weapons and Tactics (S.W.A.T.) officer with the Department's Special Operations Section. He functioned as the lead counter-sniper, and as one of the primary firearms instructors for the SWAT team. In his career, Sifu Khalfani has also served as a Police Investigator in the Criminal Investigations Division, Homicide Unit, Youth Squad and Narcotics Unit.
Sifu Khalfani has served in many Unit level command capacities over the years. He served as the Zone 2 (Buckhead Precinct) Watch Commander, The Zone 2 Investigations Unit Commander, the Fleet Management Commander and finally as the Fugitive Unit Commander. In this capacity, he was responsible for the apprehension of wanted violent felons, along with assisting zone level investigations with criminals who had proven difficult to locate. He commanded the apprehension of "High Profile" fugitives featured regularly on local news programs such as "Crime Stoppers" and "Georgia's Most Wanted". The Fugitive Unit also had 4 personnel dedicated full-time to the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force (SERFTF). At that time, Sifu Khalfani led the Fugitive Unit to an exceptional closure/apprehension rate of 99.28%.
Prior to being selected to hold the position of Zone Commander, Sifu Khalfani was the Assistant Zone Commander at the Zone 4 (SW ATL) Precinct from November, 2008 until his promotion to Major.
In January 2010, Major Yabuku assumed the position as the Zone 4 Commander responsible for carrying out the mission of the Atlanta Police Department, which was to reduce crime and enhance the quality of life of Atlanta's citizens, businesses and visitors.
Prior to his retirement, Sifu Khalfani was assigned as the School Detective Commander. In this position he was responsible for the management of the school detectives and officers assigned to Atlanta Public Schools (APS) system. His office also had the mission of providing oversight of the more than 200 APS resource officers.
Sifu Khalfani is a graduate of Columbus State University with a Master of Public Administration Degree (Cum Laude). He received his Bachelor of Arts in Criminology (Cum Laude) from Saint Leo University, and also holds a Liberal Arts Associate Degree. Sifu Khalfani's experience in law enforcement and military tactics is broad and extensive; he has received over 60 local, state and national certifications in the law enforcement /public safety / military fields.
Since the age of 13, Sifu Khalfani has adopted the Shao-lin Martial Arts as a lifestyle. He is an avid student/practitioner of the Arts, as well as a senior instructor (Sifu) of Kung Fu, Tai-Chi and other Chinese Internal Arts at Michael Reid's Shaolin Martial Art of Marietta, Georgia.
