Citizens Academy enjoys great community participation

Sheriff Shawn Dyer created the class to provide participating residents with “a deeper understanding of the knowledge, skills and abilities required to be a deputy in modern-day law enforcement.”

Subjects to be covered include everything from daily operations to investigations, tactics, and crime scene management to give people “a solid introduction of the work the Sheriff’s Office performs.” The many departments within the Sheriff’s Office will also be reviewed.

That first session featured presentations by outside agencies that regularly partner with the Union County Sheriff’s Office, highlighting the importance of interagency cooperation in bolstering the work of local law enforcement.

Sheriff Dyer started with words of welcome and a brief synopsis of his responsibilities before providing some eye-opening statistics from the Sheriff’s Office, like the roughly 1,400 traffic citations issued on Blood Mountain since March and more than $770,000 worth of drug seizures this year.

UCSO Chief Deputy Josh Berry discussed some of the history of the Sheriff’s Office since he started working there 25 years ago. And a lot has changed over the years. For example, since he first came abord, the department has grown from 17-20 employees to 94 today.

Deputy Eddie Henderson, who is running the class, led off the evening of presentations with an overview of the many supporting public safety agencies that regularly assist the Sheriff’s Office. The help of outside agencies is necessary, he noted, because “no agency is an island.”

Henderson introduced representatives from five other agencies to speak, with each outlining his specific agency’s general functions as well as how it serves the local community: the Blairsville Police Department; Georgia Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division; Georgia Bureau of Investigations; Georgia State Patrol; and Union County Schools Police.

Blairsville Police Chief Michael “Bear” Baxter gave facts about his department, remarked on the close working relationship between Blairsville PD and the Sheriff’s Office, and called special attention to Dyer’s leadership as both his former assistant chief and as county sheriff.

DNR Capt. Derek Dillard, Cpl. Matt Johnson and Sgt. Brooks Varnell touched on the duties of DNR Law Enforcement, again, both in terms of its dedicated daily policing efforts and how the state officers help UCSO.

Johnson likened his Game Warden role to being “law enforcement off the pavement,” while Varnell presented the biggest crowd-pleaser of the night, K-9 Taz, describing the capabilities of his partner in crimefighting and inviting folks to pet him at the halfway break in the two-hour session.

Likewise, GBI Special Agent Cliff Tippens talked about the many ways GBI aids law enforcement around the state and in Union County. The state outfit serves in a dedicated assist role available upon request to other law enforcement agencies and district attorney offices, investigating a wide range of cases from homicide to missing persons and fraud.

Georgia State Patrol Cpl. William London of Blue Ridge Post 27 said that his agency, officially known as the Georgia Department of Public Safety, is primarily focused on traffic enforcement. GSP assists locally with bad wrecks and road death investigations and has been instrumental in holding dangerous joyriders accountable on Blood Mountain.

Rounding out the partner presentations was Union County Schools Police Chief Scott Deyton, who provided information about the School PD, which has six officers: two stationed at the high school and one at each other campus, including Woody Gap School.

The campus agency also has two K-9s, one that sniffs explosives “in response to bomb threat calls in the schools or anywhere in North Georgia,” and another trained to identify drugs. Deyton described some of the upgraded security at the school system; among other measures, every classroom now has cameras, as do the school buses.

He credited partnerships with surrounding law enforcement agencies like the Union County Sheriff’s Office with helping the schools to train and prepare for worst case scenarios, like the potential for active shooters.

Attendees, such as Blairsville resident Lloyd Lukas, thoroughly enjoyed their experience that night and are looking forward to the rest of the sessions.

Lukas read about the class in the newspaper and said he didn’t even have to think about signing up. He already has a healthy appreciation for what law enforcement does, he said, and hopes to gain an “overall awareness” of the Sheriff’s Office.

Residents William and Xan Gatling signed up as a pair. After that first session, they were struck by what it takes behind the scenes to make a growing county like Union seem so much like “Mayberry” to the general public: “I had no idea all the stuff they were involved in,” William said.

The remaining four weeks will be focused on various aspects of the Sheriff’s Office, with lessons about each UCSO department to be instructed by personnel actively assigned to them. This will give participants the chance to meet as many Sheriff’s Office employees as possible.

For instance, Financial Crimes Investigator Sgt. Bob Calamari will give a talk on Scam Awareness; Capt. Tyler Miller will discuss narcotics investigations; and Chief Jailor Tommy Holbrooks will give an overview and tour of Union County Jail.

But the Sheriff’s Office does more than just investigate crimes and make arrests; the class will also feature talks on Courthouse Security, Animal Control, the budgeting process, the Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team and more.

Week four will include a special presentation on joint operations between the Sheriff’s Office and Fire Department, which work together on search & rescue as well as recovery operations. The Emergency Management Agency and E-911 Center will also feature that week.

Sheriff Dyer structured the class to be a beneficiary of the Union County Sheriff’s Foundation, a new nonprofit that seeks to provide the Sheriff’s Office with needed equipment – recently, body cameras for all deputies – and offset costs associated with educating the public.

All class materials and supplies for the Citizens Academy were purchased either through Sheriff’s Foundation funds, like the class packets and commemorative T-shirts, or direct community donations.

Goodies donated for the first night included pens and pads from United Community Bank; bags, cups, hand sanitizers, and highlighters from River City Bank; bottles of water from Home Depot; koozies and magnets from DNR; and dinner from Chick-fil-A.

The sheriff wants the public to understand that the Citizens Academy is an educational opportunity only, designed to let people know “what we do and why we do it.” Attendees will not be deputized or authorized to perform special duties on account of their participation.

“They’re just citizens learning what we do,” Dyer said.

Keep an eye out for future Citizens Academy signups, as the sheriff intends to hold the class at least once a year moving forward.