I just fielded a call from a very angry citizen. The citizen made the call convinced that there was wrongdoing on the part of one of our deputies, and his tone was extremely accusatory. He saw an Oconee County Sheriffs Office vehicle across the line in Walton County, and he was convinced that the deputy was running RADAR in Walton County, and he wanted to know why we were out of our jurisdiction. First, Deputy Sheriffs have statewide jurisdiction. We are not municipal police officers. There is a difference. Second, according to 17-4-23 OCGA, any officer can enforce traffic law anywhere in the state. This code section was interpreted to have this meaning in the cases of State v. Gheris, 528 S.E.2d 300, 242 Ga. App. 324 (2000); and Glazner v. State, 318 S.E.2d 233, 170 Ga. App. 810 (1984). Upon being told all of the this, the citizen angrily accused of using Oconee County tax money to protect the citizens of Walton County. The kicker is that the deputy was not running RADAR. His truck does not even have a RADAR unit in it. Clarke County called and asked us to meet them at the line to pick up a person and deliver the person to Walton County where a Walton County SO unit would meet us. Our Deputy was there waiting on the Walton County unit. I did tell him that I understood a simple question as to our activities, but I took exception to the accusatory tone of his phone call in that he was determined that there was wrongdoing at the outset rather than simply calling and asking why our deputy was there. As for protecting citizens in other counties, I would be very disappointed if one of our deputies let a county line sign prevent him/her from actually protecting a citizen in need or addressing a matter of immediate public safety. I am also very appreciative of deputies in surrounding counties as well as police officers from other agencies who have come to the aid of Oconee residents or addressed an issue of immediate public safety concern here. Respectfully, J. Lee Weems, Chief Deputy
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 13:41:17 +0000
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