Submitted information from Cobb Police about staying safe for Halloween (keep in mind rainy weather is in the forecast for Thursday as well):
Walk Safely
Cross the street at corners, using traffic signals and crosswalks.
Look left, right and left again when crossing and keep looking as you cross.
Put electronic devices down and keep heads up and walk, don’t run, across the street.
Teach children to make eye contact with drivers before crossing in front of them.
Always walk on sidewalks or paths. If there are no sidewalks, walk facing traffic as far to the left as possible. Children should walk on direct routes with the fewest street crossings.
Watch for cars that are turning or backing up. Teach children to never dart out into the street or cross between parked cars.
Drive Extra Safe on Halloween Slow down and be especially alert in residential neighborhoods. Children are excited on Halloween and may move in unpredictable ways. Take extra time to look for kids at intersections, on medians and on curbs. Enter and exit driveways and alleys slowly and carefully. Eliminate any distractions inside your car so you can concentrate on the road and your surroundings. Drive slowly, anticipate heavy pedestrian traffic and turn your headlights on earlier in the day to spot children from greater distances. Popular trick-or-treating hours are 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. so be especially alert for kids during those hours.
Always remember to Trick or Treat with an adult!
Keep Costumes Both Creative and Safe Decorate costumes and bags with reflective tape or stickers and, if possible, choose light colors. Choose face paint and makeup whenever possible instead of masks, which can obstruct a child’s vision. Have kids carry glow sticks or flashlights to help them see and be seen by drivers. When selecting a costume, make sure it is the right size to prevent trips and falls.
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A man who was convicted of choking the mother of his baby at her East Cobb home last year has been given a 22-year prison sentence, with 20 to serve.
Derek James Burns, 29, of Carrollton, was sentenced Monday by Cobb Superior Court Judge Adele Grubbs, after a jury convicted him last week of aggravated assault (strangulation), false imprisonment, simple battery and simple assault.
According to the Cobb District Attorney’s Office, Burns, who has been in jail since the April 2018 incident, will get credit for time served.
Prosecutors said at the trial that Burns and the victim were arguing at her home on Bradford Lane, off Barnes Mill Road, on April 19, 2018. According to testimony, Burns put the woman in a chokehold until she lost conscious and control of her bladder.
Prosectors said the woman realized after she regained consciousness that she had been dragged across the floor and placed in a corner, and said that Burns threatened to shoot her if she looked up or raised her head until he was gone, and would “make it look like a suicide.”
Also testifying at the trial was a former girlfriend of Burns, who said he had choked her, also rendering her unconscious, when they were dating.
Grubbs, who said Burns was “vicious and harmful,” also ordered him to serve the final two years of his term on probation.
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A City of East Cobb fire department “will not have the resources to operate” at a top certified level of protection, according to a group opposing cityhood. (ECN file)
A group opposed to East Cobb cityhood is criticizing an independent financial review that concluded that a proposed city would be fiscally viable.
The five-member Independent Financial Group, consisting of East Cobb residents who are finance and legal experts, volunteered to examine a Georgia State University feasibility study and issued its report in September.
The East Cobb Alliance, which formed over the summer to oppose cityhood, said in a posting on its Facebook page over the weekend that “in the beginning, there were 5 people on the IFG, but the 5th guy resigned when he couldn’t stomach the baloney the other 4 were proposing…and, ‘baloney’ is putting it nicely.”
(Shailesh Bettadapur, a member of the IFG group, resigned two days before the report was released, according to Bill Green, another member of the review group.)
The ECA post further stated that “several members of ECA who have choked their way through reading this document consider it nothing but a bunch of mumbo-jumbo malarkey.”
The East Cobb Alliance took issue with the report above all over fire services. The Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb had state legislation introduced in March that would create a city of East Cobb with police, fire and community development services.
The ECA noted in its posting that in the IFG report, members of the review group and the cityhood group “are concerned the [GSU feasibility] Study may not have included all necessary fire protection expenditures.”
The ECA post continued:
“This is a group of 4 people, NONE of whom have ANY experience in the fire protection services world. No one on the GSU research team had ANY experience in fire protection services. No one on the Pro-Cityhood Committee has ANY clue as to what it takes to operate an effective fire department.
“Our County Fire Department, and our personal lives and property, should NOT be subjected to the whims of fools who have NO IDEA of what it takes to assemble, hire, train, OR operate a world-class Fire Department like we have right now.
“Tell your friends and neighbors about this IDIOCY being pushed upon us.”
The GSU feasibility study estimated an annual fire budget of $5.9 million. According to the IFG report (read it here), a city finance director in a nearby municipality said a City of East Cobb may have relatively lower costs for fire because it “has a low proportion of multi-unit residential housing and fewer tall buildings.”
The IFG, in its report, added $4 million for fire expenses estimates “as a placeholder” pending further budgeting information becoming available.
The East Cobb cityhood bill includes a proposed municipality of around 96,000 people, and five fire stations currently part of the Cobb County Fire and Emergency Services Department.
The ECA in recent days has examined other aspects of the cityhood proposal, including the possible purchase and use of the East Cobb Government Services Center on Lower Roswell Road, and the proposed cost of buying those five fire stations for the new city from the county.
The ECA also claims that a new City of East Cobb fire department “will not have the resources” to provide the top certified level of protection, also known as ISO-1. Cobb is one of around 240 fire departments nationwide to have that status, which is given by the Insurance Services Office, a non-profit that provides insurance information, including for fire and building codes.
“Should we kill a great Fire Department to build a new police department? Seems like kind of a weird trade-off,” the ECA asks.
Another topic covers police and jail services that have been proposed by the cityhood group. The GSU feasibility study suggested a 140-officer East Cobb police force, nearly double the number of officers on patrol in Cobb Police Precinct 4, which covers an area well beyond the proposed city lines. Currently Precinct 4 has a staffing of around 50 response officers, a shortage of less than 20 for what it’s been allocated.
“That just seems very bizarre to us when the land area will be half of their current coverage,” concluded the ECA. “Why should we vote to form a new city to correct a deficiency of 16 people . . . when the coverage territory of a new city will be 50% of the original precinct territory? For all we know, 71 people may be the ideal force for a PCEC.”
The East Cobb Alliance and the East Cobb cityhood group have been invited to a Nov. 12 forum hosted by the East Cobb Business Association.
The cityhood group’s public events, which follow town halls in the spring, also tentatively will include more meetings after the first of the year, when the Georgia legislature would take up the East Cobb cityhood bill.
That bill would have to pass the entire General Assembly for a cityhood referendum to take place in 2020.
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A Cobb Police recruiting graphic drawn up after commissioners approved pay increases for public safety employees for FY 2020.
After hearing a first draft of a proposed step and grade salary and promotion system for Cobb County public safety employees, commissioner Bob Ott Monday said the plan isn’t any better than what’s in place now.
The proposal calls for a salary increase for police officers, sheriff’s deputies, firefighters and other workers, and in increments with a three-percent raise as they move up in grade.
“I don’t see any difference,” said Ott, who represents District 2, which includes part of East Cobb, at a Monday commissioners’ work session. “There’s just a difference in the numbers.”
Cobb public safety officials worked up the new plan as the next step in a series of salary, retention and promotional incentives after commissioners approved the fiscal year 2020 budget with a seven-percent pay raise for many public safety employees.
They previously received a one-time bonus of $1,450 as a good faith gesture from commissioners during the budget process.
The additional funding came after months of public lobbying from public safety employees and citizens to pay public safety employees better, provide more recruiting incentives, and increase morale. Cobb public safety has significant staffing shortages, especially with police and the Sheriff’s Office.
Cobb Police, which has a shortage of around 80 officers, has been actively sending out recruiting messages on social media, posting signs around the county (including at the entrance to East Cobb Park) and conducting job fairs in north Georgia.
Step and grade is similar to what Cobb County School District employees receive—annual, incremental raises based on a combination of factors, including years of service, promotions and performance reviews.
The Cobb public safety step and grade draft would boost the starting salary for an entry-level police officer from around $41,000 a year to $45,776 annually.
Cobb interim public safety director Randy Crider said under the proposal, an officer making $54,000 at Grade 16 and Step 6 could earn $54,976 instead under a “blue” plan that would take effect in March 2020.
Under an alternate “yellow” plan, that same officer would make $56,818 a year, with the new pay scale starting with the fiscal 2021 budget next fall.
Crider said his numbers were figured with current budgeting numbers in mind, and he told Ott that “this is to give you a structure to approve.”
The problem, as Ott saw it, was that under the draft proposal, raises would come to commissioners each year for approval. “That’s not step and grade,” he said.
Most step and grade plans, including that for Cobb schools, have automatic increases factored into budgets.
Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce said the current “pay and class” system was meant to be a one-time solution. With step and grade, “the anticipation is that we’ll do this annually.”
He said it was important for the county to “continue to provide incentives” to attract police officers and firefighters for years to come. “This won’t be a one and done.
“We don’t fix this overnight. We fix it over time.”
Ott countered by saying that in a “true step and grade, you get a raise every year. And you get another raise and you get promoted.”
The proposal brought before commissioners, he insisted, means that “each year, it requires the board to make the same decisions we’re making today.”
Public safety officials had scheduled individual meetings with commissioners after Monday’s work session.
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A man living on Terrell Mill Road and who was charged with the death of a motorist in a fatal crash on I-20 in July has been indicted on three counts of vehicular homicide.
The Cobb District Attorney’s Office said Mark Steven Ridling, 29, of 1550 Terrell Mill Road, was indicted by a Cobb Superior Court grand jury on Oct. 3.
According to the indictment, Ridling was driving a Hyundai Azera in Interstate 20 near Factory Shoals Road in South Cobb after 2 a.m. on July 7 when his vehicle, which was traveling well in excess of the posted 70 mph speed limits, changed lanes. The Hyundai then struck a Toyota Corolla driven by Brian Betts, 47, of Atlanta, who later died at Grady Memorial Hospital as a result of the crash.
The indictment also said Ridling was driving while under the influence, and that he was driving “in a reckless manner on reckless disregard of the safety of persons and property.” Betts’ car overturned and Ridling’s Hyundai struck a barrier on the interstate.
Ridling suffered minor injuries and also was taken to Grady. He was arrested the same day and remains in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center without bond, according to Cobb Sheriff’s Office records.
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After a couple months’ delay, three East Cobb parks will be among 13 in the county that will be getting electronic license plate readers.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 Tuesday to spend $182,000 for the devices, which are designed to help cut down on crime and improve public safety at the parks.
East Cobb Park, Fullers Park and Terrell Mill Park are on the list for getting the readers, which are being purchased from a private vendor and will monitored by the Cobb Police Department.
The measure was tabled in August at the behest of East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott, who said he had privacy concerns with the proposal.
The revised request includes a provision that only police will receive the data coming from the devices, and that they will employ their existing policies about restricting use of the data.
No other county employees will have access to that information.
South Cobb commissioner Lisa Cupid thanked Ott “for letting us digest” the need to address privacy concerns.
“This was a sensitive issue,” said Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce, who thanked the police and parks and recreation staff for working out a solution.
Cobb will purchase a total of 26 devices from Flock Group, Inc., which has sold cameras to the county for use by other departments. The funding for the park devices is in the 2016 Cobb SPLOST.
The solar-powered readers at the parks will collect data that includes time of arrival and departure as well as license plate and vehicle characteristics.
Two devices will be installed at each of the 13 parks, which Cobb Parks and Recreation Director Jimmy Gisi said were chosen “based on experience and data obtained from the police department records of the number and type of citizen requested dispatch calls.”
The other parks include Noonday Park and Skip Wells Park in Northeast Cobb; Lost Mountain Park, Oregon Park and Fair Oaks Park in West and North Cobb; and Wallace Park, Hurt Road Park, Tramore Park and Wild Horse Creek Park in South Cobb.
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A Roswell woman was ejected from her motorcycle and landed on a guardrail after her vehicle crashed into a concrete curb on Lower Roswell Road Friday afternoon, Cobb Police said.
Carolyn C. Keelaghan, 57, was taken by ambulance to WellStar Kennestone Hospital with what a police spokeswoman said are serious but not believed to be life-threatening injuries.
Officer Sydney Melton said Keelaghan was riding a Harley Davidson XL883 motorcycle northbound on Lower Roswell, between Asheforde Drive and Timber Ridge Road, at 5:54 p.m. Friday.
The motorcyclist was making a sharp turn to her left, but failed to maintain her lane and the bike crashed into a concrete curb, Melton said. The motorcycle overturned and Keelaghan was thrown into a guardrail, according to police, who said the incident remains under investigation.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Cobb County Police Department at 770-499-3987.
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6:30-8 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 29
Mt. Zion Methodist Church, 1770 Johnson Ferry Road, Marietta
As for everyday crime prevention tips, at home and when you’re out and about, Cobb Police have been sending out the following information recently:
• Never advertise you are leaving town: Don’t broadcast that you and your family will be away. Wait until after your trip to share updates and photos on social media. Remind your children not to Facebook, blog, or tweet your family’s absence from home. • Create the illusion of occupancy: While away cancel delivery of mail and newspaper or arrange for a neighbor to pick them up. • Lights: Put inside and outside lights on a timer to establish a look of occupancy. Adding a timer on your TV so it’s on when you’d normally be watching TV is also a good idea. • Lock all windows and doors: Keep valuables away from windows, lower blinds, and close curtains so passers-by can’t view these items. Remember, a significant amount of crime can be deterred if home owners do not create easy opportunities for the criminal element. • Garage: Keep your car locked and the windows up even if its parked in the garage and take your keys with you. If your house is broken into, there is no need to provide the thief with a car. You may also want to unplug your garage door opener and lock the garage door while out of town. • Trust a Neighbor: Make sure a dependable neighbor watches your house, has a house key, and has your cell number in case of any home emergency. Also make sure your neighbor has a way to shut off any alarms. • Utilities: It’s always a good idea to turn back the temperature of your water heater and shut off the water to your washing machine (washing machine hose breaks are at the top of the list when it comes to home damage costs).
And for preventing specific types of crimes:
Burglary Prevention
Lock your doors, including the one from the garage
Keep garage doors closed-check before bed every night
Motion sensor activated lighting
Surveillance cameras
Entering Auto Prevention
Lock your vehicles and remove items of value and items that appear to contain valuables.
If you can’t keep them with you, secure your valuables in the trunk before reaching your location.
Keep your vehicle locked and your purse or wallet on your person while fueling at the gas station.
Postal Theft
Anti-Theft mailboxes with a special locking system
Security Cameras
Do not raise the mail flag
Do not send cash, checks, or anything that has credit card information
Remember to CALL 911 to report any suspicious persons or activity. If you see something, say something!
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Precinct 4 officers honored at the East Cobb Business Association’s Public Safety Appreciation Dinner.
The fourth annual East Cobb public safety dinner is set to take place in early November, and organizers are seeking donations from the public.
The dinner treats Cobb Police Precinct 4 officers, staff and their spouses to a night out, with dinner, gift certificates, door prizes and entertainment.
Susan Hampton of East Cobb, one of the event’s organizers, said the dinner “has become a big deal” in the local law enforcement community, with around 97 percent participation.
The East Cobb Business Association has been behind the dinner since its inception, and Hampton continues to lead the effort as a member of the new Cobb County Public Safety Foundation.
The ECBA organizes a similar dinner for the full Cobb Fire and Emergency Services department in the spring.
Hampton said door prizes, which are donated by local businesses, are especially popular. The suggested individual donations are $25, $50 and $100 in the “Thank A Hero” category. The donor’s name is listed on the event program.
Sponsorship levels are $250, $500, $1,000 and $2,500. According to the donation form:
“We are blessed to live, work and raise our families in this wonderful community. We appreciate the continued support of our co-host organizations, the East Cobb Business Association, the Cobb Chamber’s East Cobb Area Council and the Cobb County Public Safety Foundation. These organizations are represented on the event committee, which also includes individuals from East Cobb civic clubs, representatives from the police and fire departments and past East Cobb Citizen of the Year recipients.”
For information and to donate visit the ECBA website, or the Cobb County Public Safety Foundation website.
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Cobb Fire and Emergency Services staff will host seven basic medical emergency training programs at Cobb County public libraries in late September through October. This free training is designed to help residents be prepared and confident to handle medical emergencies. There will be two segments of about 90 minutes each. The first session, Family and Friends CPR, will cover hands-only CPR, how to occlude severed arteries, using AEDs and basic first aid. The second session, Stop the Bleed, will teach how to save lives in emergencies involving uncontrolled bleeding. Space is limited and registration for the training sessions is required whether you are attending one or both segments.
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Thanks to Aaron Salkill, a firefighter with the Cobb Fire and Emergency Services Department, for passing along the following information and educational video you can watch below that’s part of a nationwide contest about closing your door before going to bed.
He and his Dalmatian Cinder are taking part in the “Close Before You Doze” video contest, which will award the winner a $25,000 grant for fire safety education programs.
The video contest is in conjunction with UL Firefighter Safety Research, and the videos are designed “to help educate people about the critical impact that closing your bedroom door can have in stopping the spread of a fire and ultimately saving lives.”
The winnings, according to Cobb Fire, would be contributed to the Cobb County Safety Village.
The eight videos with the most votes move on to the next round where a panel of UL representatives will rank the finalists. They will receive a donation in their name to a fire department of their choosing.
The grand prize donation is $25,000, the runner-up and second runner-up will receive $15,000 and $10,000, respectively, and five additional winners will be recognized with a $5,000 donation and honorable mention.
You can click on to the video link here between now and Sept. 15 to cast your vote for Aaron and Cinder and possibly benefit the Cobb Safety Village.
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A note suggesting a bomb threat and that was found on the dashboard of a car parked in front of The Marietta Daily Journal office Wednesday has led to the arrest of an East Cobb man.
Gary S. Studenic, 70, was booked in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center Wednesday afternoon on a misdemeanor charge of reckless conduct, according to the Marietta Police Department.
According to the Cobb Sheriff’s Office, Studenic’s home address is on Bill Murdock Road, and he was arrested at 12:15 p.m.
Police said an unoccupied black Porsche was parked in front of 47 Waddell Street at 10:10 Wednesday morning with a sign on the dashboard that stated in part: “will explode on contact.”
That’s near the Marietta Square, and it’s the address of the MDJ, which evacuated the premises, as did those in other nearby buildings, according to police.
Police said they established a perimeter around the vehicle as they investigated, and asked the Cobb Police Department to dispatch its bomb squad to the scene.
At 10:40 a.m., the registered owner of the car, whom police said is Studenic, walked from a building on the Square to the Porsche, and when he arrived said the note was a joke among friends.
The note said at the top: “NOTICE OF EXPLOSIVE INSTALLATION” and further stated in the text that “it has been modified to explode on contact. A nominal fee of $10,000 will be collected at time explosive charges are removed,” according to the MDJ.
Police said Studenic told them he didn’t realize he had placed the note in public view and in front of a newspaper office.
Police said the man who wrote the note, Richard Calhoun of Marietta, arrived at 11:11 a.m. The Cobb bomb squad inspected the car and found no explosives.
Marietta Police said Studenic went to their headquarters and was interviewed, and was charged with reckless conduct, which carries a bond of $250. Calhoun was not charged.
Studenic is the president of the Pain Relief Clinic, a chiropractic practice on South Marietta Parkway.
The MDJ moved to the Waddell Street building last summer, after selling its 50-year-old facility on Fairground Street to the Cobb County School District.
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As one of the more vocal community leaders in support of better pay for Cobb public safety employees, Susan Hampton was expanding a role she began several years ago on behalf of police officers in East Cobb.
Now she’s taking her activism to another level as part of a new initiative, the Cobb Public Safety Foundation, that provides support to county public safety employees and their families.
Hampton has joined the non-profit as a board member, as it raises funds and awareness.
“It’s an opportunity for people to help our public safety employees and their families,” Hampton said.
The money raised goes to those employees who may need help paying the rent, or who are sick, or in distress, or who are dealing with some other kind of physical, emotional or financial need.
The foundation was launched in June by Lance LoRusso, an East Cobb resident and attorney who represents officers with the Cobb Fraternal Order of Police.
He and Hampton were among several citizens who strongly urged Cobb commissioners this year to raise not only salaries but improve benefits and incentives for public safety employees, and called their current situation a crisis.
In the Cobb fiscal year 2020 budget adopted last month, most police officers, firefighters and sheriff’s deputies got a seven-percent raise, and those who got satisfactory performance reviews also received a one-time bonus of $1,475.
The Cobb Public Safety Foundation addresses some of the needs that other public safety advocates mentioned in public comment sessions, including financial and psychological issues.
The pledge the foundation is making to public safety employs who need assistance is this:
“Whatever the call, whatever the need, no matter the danger, the professionals we serve answer the call with a simple response: Here I am. Send me.”
The organization’s board includes some prominent Cobb citizens, including Cobb Chamber of Commerce CEO Sharon Mason and former Cobb Commission Chairman and Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens, both East Cobb residents.
“We believe in this so much that we’ve written personal checks to help kick things off,” Hampton said of the foundation board. “We’ll be fully transparent about where the funds are going.”
Contributions are tax-deductible, and a secure online donation page has been launched with the partnership of the Cobb Community Foundation.
Hampton is continuing in her role as an organizer of the East Cobb Public Safety Appreciation dinner, which will be held in October.
It’s a project of the East Cobb Business Association, which is giving Cobb Police Precinct 4 employees and their spouses a night with dinner and entertainment. The ECBA organizes a similar dinner for the full Cobb Fire and Emergency Services department every March.
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After threats of violence or lockdowns at three East Cobb high schools in the last two weeks, Cobb County School District officials are trying to reassure the public that they’re being as proactive as possible in responding to those threats.
All three of those incidents—at Sprayberry, Walton and Wheeler—ended peacefully, and suspects at all three schools, including two students, were taken into custody.
School officials communicated with parents with varying levels of detail.
The first two incidents—both last week, at Sprayberry and Walton—included a code yellow alert and a student arrest, respectively.
On Friday morning, a code red alert was issued at Wheeler, where a student was found with a weapon and was arrested.
“We’re being as proactive as any school district I know,” said John Floresta, chief strategy and accountability officer for Cobb schools. He spoke to East Cobb News Thursday, before Friday’s incident at Wheeler.
According to a school district statement Friday morning, “students made [the] Wheeler administration aware of a rumor of a current student who had made a threat to Wheeler’s campus.”
The school was placed on a Code Red lockdown—the highest stage of alert—while school district police and administrators investigated. A student found with a weapon—which was not specified—was taken into custody.
“Wheeler administration, staff, CCSD police, and District student-safety supports performed well,” the school district statement further stated.
In each of the previous incidents, Floresta said, “we’re batting 100 percent in the way each incident was handled,” from quick actions by school officials to apprehend those posing a threat, to relaying information to the school community.
At Sprayberry, a trespasser was stopped by school officials last Friday and was found to have a gun. He was arrested, and a code yellow alert was issued. That means the outside doors to school buildings were locked while classes and activities continued inside.
A 45-year-old man who lives nearby, Daniel Ryan Caudell, was charged with possession of a weapon and alcohol on a public school ground.
At Walton, alcohol also was a mitigating factor in another incident last week. Ty Holder, a 17-year-old student, was charged with battery for kicking an assistant principal and threatening to shoot up the school when he was found with a water bottle containing alcohol.
He was later released on his own recognizance.
At Wheeler, Rolando Figueroa Moore, 18, was arrested at the school around 9 a.m. Friday by Cobb schools police and then booked into the Cobb jail, according to the Cobb Sheriff’s Office. Jail records indicate Moore has charged weapons possession on school grounds and bus hijacking, both felonies, and a misdemeanor count of carrying a weapon without a valid license.
An East Cobb parent who helped form a Cobb schools safety group last year acknowledged that the district is taking more concerted steps to ensure safety and communicate better, but still thinks its approach is largely reactive.
Rene’ Brinks Dodd, who helped start the Cobb County Schools Safety Coalition before the last school year, said she thought the message from Sprayberry principal Sara Griffin was prompt and detailed.
It said in part that the incident “did not disrupt the school day, at no time were students threatened or in danger.”
At Walton, an initial message to parents referenced “a student-related incident . . . that some of our students may have witnessed” but said only that the “situation has been resolved and the student involved is in the care of medical professionals.”
Principal Catherine Mallanda sent out a longer, more detailed message later the same day, saying that some information couldn’t be revealed for medical and student privacy reasons.
But she did describe the safety features of the Walton classroom building that opened two years ago, and explained a school safety day that took place last week “in which we reviewed all safety procedures with students and had a Code Red Drill. Additionally, our school safety plan has been vetted with the Cobb County School District Police Department.”
Mallanda also told parents about the 65-member Cobb schools police force, which has a combined 1,690 years of service. “We have some of the very best police officers at Walton High School keeping your child safe every day,” she said.
The second Walton message also referenced safety measures the district has begun within the last year, including the Safe Schools Alert, an anonymous tip-reporting service, and AlertPoint, an emergency response notification system that triggers a warning message throughout a school within seconds and identifies where an incident has taken place.
Officer Phil Bradford of the Cobb County School District police, at a safety town hall last fall at Lassiter HS. (ECN file)
Those are featured in a Cobb schools safety resource effort called Cobb Shield, which also contains information about the district police force, emergency management procedures and code red drills (required each semester at each of the district’s 16 high schools).
The Walton incident wasn’t made public for a week, and then only because of news reports, while the Sprayberry and Wheeler cases were made public the day they occurred.
Last month, Dodd addressed the Cobb Board of Education with some of her longstanding concerns, saying the Cobb school district “is taking a reactive approach to student safety and support and there are several ticking bomb-type situations that could result in someone getting hurt, hurting others or another tragic situation.”
Others are taking a “more proactive approach, and this could be done in Cobb County as well.”
Dodd, whose daughter attended Mountain View Elementary School, has advocated for more mental health counseling, and pointed to a special committee appointed by the school superintendent in Cherokee County for “social emotional learning” as an example of an initiative she would like to see tried in Cobb.
“We want change for everyone in the district, not just those students who are going to get the district high test scores and ratings,” she told the school board.
In referencing direct safety initiatives, including Cobb Shield, Floresta said that “I can point you to 1, 15, 20 things that we’re doing. I’d be curious to hear of something that we can do that we’re not doing.”
He said that “we’ve been pretty aggressive in steering the community to what we’re doing.”
Mallanda closed her longer message to the Walton community by saying that:
“Helping students succeed is our first priority, but we can only accomplish this mission if our schools are safe, our students are confident, and our teachers are able to focus on teaching. I am confident we are doing everything possible to keep your student safe.”
After the Wheeler incident, Dodd said she was “pleased to see more transparency in [the Cobb school district] statement than what has been done historically,” she said. “Also, would be curious if the new AlertPoint and SafeSchools Alert system is the reason it seems there are more incidents.
“Meaning, now that the teachers and students have the proper tools, a lot more things are being caught in a more efficient time frame and before something [is] escalated.”
However, the Code Red drill that took place at Walton last Thursday unnerved student Emily Ross, who wrote in an essay for the AJC that “this is warping me. I never feel safe.
“The teachers are expected to be self-sacrificing and stop someone with a weapon that can kill nine people in less than 30 seconds. The administration is expected to appease parents with procedures that might—or might not—work.
“I’m 16. I don’t have a solution.”
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A student at Wheeler High School was arrested Friday morning and the school was briefly placed on a lockdown after the student was found with a weapon, according to the Cobb County School District.
A spokesperson for the CCSD classes and other activities have resumed after a Code Red alert was issued. The student wasn’t identified, nor was the weapon specified.
UPDATED, 5:45 p.m.: According to the Cobb Sheriff’s Office, Rolando Figueroa Moore, 18, of a Terrell Mill Road address, was booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center around noon Friday on felony charges of weapons possession on school ground and bus hijacking and a misdemeanor count of carrying a weapon without a valid license.
He is being held on a bond of $27,720, according to jail records, which said Moore was arrested by Cobb County School District police on the Wheeler campus at 9:05 a.m.
Here’s the statement from the district:
“This morning, students made Wheeler administration aware of a rumor of a current student who had made a threat to Wheeler’s campus. Wheeler’s campus was put on code red while Wheeler administration and Cobb County School District police investigated. During the investigation, a suspect was arrested and found to be in possession of a weapon. Wheeler administration, staff, CCSD police, and District student-safety supports performed well. All students are safe, and the school is operating on a normal schedule while CCSD police continue their investigation.”
The incident at Wheeler is the third at an East Cobb high school involving lockdowns or threats of violence in the last two weeks.
Last week a Walton High School student found to have had alcohol in a water bottle was arrested after kicking an assistant principal and threatening to come back and shoot up the school.
Also last week, a man trespassing on the Sprayberry High School campus was found to have had a gun and was arrested by school district police. A code yellow alert was issued, meaning that the outside doors to the school are locked but classes and other activities continue inside.
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After being on the job only a few months, Mike Register is retiring as the Cobb public safety director.
His abrupt announcement was released by the county late Tuesday evening, citing “increasingly urgent family issues” that are prompting him to move out of Cobb. Register will stay on through Aug. 31.
Here’s the statement Register issued via the county:
“I was deeply honored to be Police Chief and Public Safety Director and appreciated the support of the Board and County Manager. I regret personal issues are tearing me away from this job, and I leave with a sense of accomplishment.”
“I will always treasure my time in Cobb County and I will always love this county and truly believe it is the greatest county in the state of Georgia with the greatest public safety employees in the state.”
Register was appointed public safety director in April by the Cobb Board of Commissioners after serving as police chief since 2017. The public safety director oversees police, fire, 911, emergency management and animal services in Cobb.
He was credited by some as being a morale-boosting force as county police officers and firefighters received seven-percent pay raises in the Cobb fiscal year 2020 budget that was adopted last month.
But less than three weeks later, commissioners will have to find a replacement.
While he was police chief Register emphasized community policing, forming a community affairs unit that included an officer in each of the five county precincts to informally meet with citizens at coffee shops and other venues. Register also held a series of public meetings with Cobb religious and community leaders.
Cobb County manager Rob Hosack issued the following statement:
“We understand that family comes first to Mike and are saddened that he will leave us. He did tremendous things in his short time in the position and we will be considering our options for the Public Safety post in the coming days.”
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A Walton High School student who is accused of attacking a school administrator and threatening to shoot up the school was arrested over the weekend, charged with making terroristic threats, battery and other offenses.
Ty William Holder, 17, of a Cove Island Drive address in East Cobb, was booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center on Saturday morning, according to the Cobb Sheriff’s Office.
The charges include felony counts of making terroristic threats and battery against school personnel and misdemeanor accounts of simple battery against a police officer, alcohol possession on public school grounds and underage alcohol possession, according to the jail records.
Holder was released to his own recognizance on a $11,200 bond late Monday afternoon, according to the Cobb Sheriff’s Office.
The jail records indicate Holder was arrested at Peachford Hospital, a Dunwoody facility that treats individuals with addictions and mental health issues.
The incident was first reported by WSB-TV, which said a Walton assistant principal confronted the student about alcohol in a water bottle during a class last week. The student was upset and kicked the principal, then threatened to return to the school and “kill everyone,” the report said.
East Cobb News asked the Cobb County School District for more details about the incident, and a spokesperson issued this response:
“Staff in all Cobb Schools are trained in prevention and intervention best practices and care about the welfare of every student in the District. Walton High School staff responded quickly and appropriately and did what they have been trained to do: prioritize every student’s safety while keeping the focus on teaching and learning.”
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Sprayberry High School was on lockdown for part of the school day Friday after a trespasser was found on campus with a gun.
A Cobb County School District spokeswoman said a man was walking on school grounds when he was confronted by the school staff, who then discovered he had a gun.
She said a Code Yellow alert was issued, which means that the outside doors to the school are locked but classes and other activities continue inside.
“The incident did not disrupt the school day, and at no time were students threatened or in danger,” said the spokeswoman, who said the district would be pursuing charges against the man.
According to the Cobb Sheriff’s Office, Daniel Ryan Caudell, age 44 or 45, was arrested at 1:30 p.m. at Sprayberry by the Cobb County School District police.
He was booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center on a felony charge of possession of a weapon at or near a school, and a misdemeanor charge of alcohol possession on public school grounds, according to the Cobb Sheriff’s Office.
Jail records list Caudell’s home address as Aleta Drive, located near Sprayberry, and that he is being held on a $6,270 bond.
“The safety of our students and staff is our highest priority and we will continue to remain vigilant in ensuring our campus security,” the Cobb school district spokeswoman said.
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East Cobb Park is on a proposed list to have license plate reader devices installed, along with Fullers Park and Terrell Mill Park. (ECN photo by Wendy Parker)
Three parks in East Cobb could be among the first in the county to have license plate readers installed as a safety measure.
The Cobb Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department will ask commissioners on Tuesday for authorization to spend $168,000 to install the devices at 12 of the county’s 24 active and passive parks.
Those proposed to have the readers installed include East Cobb Park, Fullers Park and Terrell Mill Park.
According to the agenda item summary for Tuesday’s commissioners meeting, the parks selected for the readers were “based on experience and data obtained from the police department records of the number and type of citizen requested dispatch calls.”
The vendor is Flock Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR), which would install two solar-powered cameras at the main entrances to each park. The Flock system would be integrated into the Cobb Police dispatch system and has a real-time reporting tool for the the National Crime Information Center/Georgia Crime Information Center, according to the agenda item.
The data to be retrieved would include the arrival and departure time, license plate and descriptions of vehicles at the parks, with the objective to be able to easily detect and report suspicious vehicles.
The installation cost is covered under the 2016 Cobb Parks SPLOST and would include system integration a three-year warranty and a four-year agreement for cloud hosting, cellular service and software updates.
In a related item on Tuesday, commissioners will be asked to make a $90,213 reimbursement to the Friends for the East Cobb Park, which donated nearly $120,000 last summer to help the county purchase part of the adjoining Tritt property and preserve it for green space.
Wylene Tritt sold 22 acres at 3540 Roswell Road to the county for a cost of $8.4 million, but a supplemental parks bond account established in 2017 had only $8.3 million available.
The Friends for the East Cobb Park stepped in to make the donation from its endowment. Shortly after that, the group announced a fundraising campaignto replenish the endowment.
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Given the deadly mass shootings at an El Paso, Texas Walmart over the weekend, Marietta Police are releasing details of a knife incident at Walmart store on Cobb Parkway Monday morning that led to the peaceful arrest of a man.
Marietta Police said officers were dispatched to the Walmart store at 210 Cobb Parkway (just south of the Big Chicken) at 7:49 a.m. Monday in what was labeled a family dispute. The initial 911 call indicated there were no weapons or injuries.
By the time police arrived, they were getting calls from the public and the 911 call was upgraded. That’s because a man later identified as the caller picked up a large kitchen knife from a store aisle and tried to remove the packaging. Police said he also was aggressively approaching a Walmart employee.
Marietta Police said officers found the suspect and arrested him without incident. He’s Jerry Wayne Thompson, 50, a white male of an unspecified address, who was booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center on charges of simple assault and disorderly conduct.
They also said such an incident, where nobody got hurt or more serious charges were not filed, don’t alway warrant such a public explanation:
“The Marietta Police Department understands our community is concerned after the horrific shootings that occurred over the weekend in Texas and Ohio. We recognize how events like the one detailed above could cause the average person anxiety and are working now to organize another Civilian Response to Active Shooter Event (CRASE) training seminar. We will share the CRASE event details as soon as they are finalized. Today, we applaud Walmart for the coordinated and methodical way they worked with us to ensure everyone’s safety.”
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