Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025
Good morning. This week’s public safety newsletter is all about following up. As a journalists at The Current, we know it’s important to not only ask the initial question, but also to make sure our elected leaders followed through. Or if something changed, we try to track where that change ended up.
We look at that through the lens of a long-promised, expensive 911/emergency operations center, prison reforms, and a Coastal Georgia law enforcer moving to a new job.
Questions, comments or story ideas? Reach out at staff@thecurrentga.org.
INVESTIGATIVE: PUBLIC SAFETY
Chatham emergency ops center gets expensive, delayed
Costs and delays continue to climb for Chatham County’s sorely-needed 911 and emergency operations headquarters project.
Last May, county commissioners and the county chairman donned hard hats and shovels at a celebratory ground-breaking ceremony at the future site. Two weeks later, The Current reported that a contractor had not yet been hired to build the nearly 83,000-square-foot facility because the county’s first round of bidding fell through.
As of Jan. 8, over seven months later, there is still no contractor for the project.
It comes as Chatham County commissioners will vote on Friday for a sixth change order to its architectural design contract for the emergency center.
NEWS: PUBLIC SAFETY
3 shot in Camden County, sheriff says
Three people were shot in Camden County on Wednesday afternoon in an “active shooter incident,” according to Camden County Sheriff Kevin Chaney.
Chaney, who recently took the reins of the department, reported in a press release on Wednesday night that there is no threat to the public, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has taken over the investigation.
The shooting took place at 4:21 p.m. near the intersection of Kinlaw & Harrietts Bluff roads, which is between U.S. 17 and I-95. The intersection is sparse with only nearby Evergreen Baptist Church and an eggroll manufacturing facility.
No word on arrests nor any information about the conditions of the victims. The Current will watch for updates.
NEWS: GOVERNING
$600 million fix for Georgia prisons
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and the Georgia Department of Corrections commissioner are recommending a $600 million infusion into the state prisons system to address its rampant violence and understaffing.
Prisons in the state have been beset by corruption scandals, a homicide rate triple that of the national average, steep understaffing and an environment so unsafe for inmates that the U.S. Department of Justice deemed it “cruel and unusual punishment.”
Kemp and Commissioner Tyrone Oliver announced the recommendations this week, which include across-the-board raises for security staff, a new prison facility and more private prison beds, increased recruitment, and a repair team to make urgent repairs in different prisons.
NEWS: PUBLIC SAFETY
New No. 2 in McIntosh
A top Chatham County sheriff’s official known to many in Coastal Georgia law enforcement circles is working for a new sheriff now.
Gary Taylor, the former chief deputy under former Sheriff John Wilcher, is the new No. 2 under newly-elected McIntosh County Sheriff Thornell “T.K.” King.
Taylor will help guide first-time sheriff King as he oversees a professional makeover of a department made infamous by 2016 news headlines about racial profiling in traffic stops and good-ol-boys networks of the 1970s referenced in the pages of “Praying for Sheetrock.”
It’s a new challenge for both King and Taylor.
While the Chatham County sheriff ran the state’s fifth largest jail, it left policing to county and city agencies. The sheriff of McIntosh County serves as both the top police agency in the county and overseers of the jail.
Costs, delays increase as unbuilt Chatham emergency ops center still without contractor
Chatham County still without a contractor to build sorely-needed new 911 and emergency operations center. Costs continue to rise as more time passes.
Kemp unveils plan to spend millions intended to restore order in Georgia prisons
Georgia Department of Corrections and Republican Gov. Brian Kemp unveiled a plan to spend an additional $600 million on the state prison system, which has suffered from inadequate staffing, violence, and facilities in disrepair.
State lawmakers to explore industrial energy usage in Georgia
An influx of data centers setting up operations in Georgia in recent years has prompted concerns that the state’s utilities might not be able to handle the increasing demand for electricity.
Ossoff, Warnock pick up new Senate committee assignments
Ossoff joins Senate Appropriations while Warnock moves to Senate Finance Committee.
With possible revenue crunch looming, Ellis forges ahead
Ellis, a Democrat, gave no indication how the massive budget slashing promised by President-elect Donald Trump might soon test those fundraising skills and could spur a fierce contest for revenue among state and local governments.
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