Thursday, January 5, 2023
Military equipment to Georgia police
A Department of Defense program allowing local police departments to claim surplus military equipment has resulted in hundreds of items – some as small as office binders and others as large as mine-resistant vehicles – in the hands of Georgia police departments.
The Current’s new data reporter Maggie Lee has compiled a spreadsheet of every disbursement to Coastal Georgia police agencies as part of the so-called “1033 program.“
Organizations, like the American Civil Liberties Union, have criticized the program for contributing to the militarization of police, while police departments say it helps them prepare for emergencies.
Take, for example, the 42-officer police department for the popular beach destination, Tybee Island.
On Sept. 11, 2013, the federal government sent the Tybee Island Police Department a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle, or MRAP, which are used to protect U.S. soldiers from roadside bombs and explosives.
Tybee’s MRAP is set aside as “a high water rescue vehicle,” according to Lt. Emory Randolph with Tybee Island Police. Randolph said the acquisition came as a response to difficult terrain from flooding and hurricanes.
“While our high water rescue vehicle has not yet seen an official deployment, we began training more officers in its operation and use during this year’s hurricane season,” he said.
Agencies like the Savannah Police Department and Liberty County Sheriff’s Office also have MRAPs.
Liberty County’s vehicle is used as “a personnel carrier for the Special Response Team to ensure the safety of personnel responding to, or departing from, situations involving armed individuals or other situations where additional coverage is needed based on threat analysis,” according to Lt. Phillip Bohannon.
Gun violence effects on GA children & teens
Gun violence killed 102 children and teenagers in Georgia last year, according to an analysis from nonprofit Gun Violence Archive.
Twenty-two children and 80 teenagers died by firearms in Georgia, part of a nationwide total of around 313 children and 1,352 teenagers, the nonprofit reported.
Around 8% of the teenagers killed in Georgia were in Savannah or the Savannah-area.
The grim statistics help us understand the contours of the gun crisis nationwide and potential solutions.
Two Savannah stories
Ex-Savannah officer arrested … again: Fired Savannah Police Officer Ernest Ferguson, who killed a Carver Village man in a controversial shooting last June, has been arrested for the second time since the shooting.
Ferguson faces charges in Clay County, Fla., after allegedly attempting to run out of a jewelry shop with three watches on New Year’s Day, according to a police report. The charge is considered a felony in the third degree.
His arrest, first reported by the Savannah Morning News, compounds with the driving under the influence arrest in October that led to his firing. He said the Carver Village shooting had impacted his mental health.
After the shooting, investigations by The Current first shed light on Ferguson’s violent past as a prison guard and how the police department missed that history when hiring him.
ICYMI: The Savannah Police Department has a new chief.
City officials tapped longtime officer Lenny Gunther, who previously served as interim and assistant chief, to take over the department. Gunther started in the agency as a patrol officer in 2001 and worked his way up the ranks. He was chosen in December 2022 after a national search.
The Current‘s Craig Nelson interviewed Gunther last summer when he was appointed as interim chief. Gunther made the pitch for why he would be a successful, progressive chief in Savannah.
“You have to understand as a chief that Savannah is diverse neighborhoods from block to block,” he said. “You have to understand that, you know, not everyone that in Savannah stands on a corner is a criminal.”
“You better know where the grandmom, or the auntie of the neighborhood sells her thrills. (You have to) have a connection with our faith based community, (our) business community,” Gunther said. “Most importantly … you have to understand the officers in that police department.”
Gunther will be sworn-in on January 10 at 6 p.m. at the Cultural Arts Center.
Have a question, comment, or story idea? Email me at jakeshore.thecurrent@gmail.com.
Check out which Coastal Georgia police departments have federal military equipment
Georgia police departments received hundreds of military equipment items – from rifles to armored vehicles to office supplies – through the 1033 program with the Department of Defense. Search which agencies got what equipment.
The voluntary gun law preventing suicides
The law grants people the option to voluntarily and confidentially add their names to their state’s background check system to prevent them from impulsively purchasing a gun. Anybody can sign up, no questions asked.
Messy vetting process kept Savannah officer’s disciplinary history hidden when hired
Officer Ernest Ferguson had a long disciplinary record as a prison guard An ex-supervisor hid that fact when he was seeking work with Savannah police.
Support non-partisan, solutions-based investigative journalism without bias, fear or favor on issues affecting Savannah and Coastal Georgia.
You must be logged in to post a comment.