The Sheriff's Office has been busy since the first of the year. The RCSO had to contend with two different snow storms this year. The first week of snow and ice was very busy for the RCSO. The RCSO assisted many stranded motorists, worked several vehicle crashes and had to close several roads throughout the county to keep citizens safe.

During the second week of snow and ice, the RCSO Mobile Command Vehicle was utilized by Rockdale County EMA Director and Rockdale Fire and Rescue Chief Dan Morgan. The RCSO team worked hard along with other county and state officials to keep everyone safe. I want to thank all the citizens who followed the recommendations to stay home, as that made our jobs much easier and kept the roadways safe for everyone.

I would like to take this time to warn residents about a new telephone scam that law enforcement is seeing more and more. The scam is being called the "One-Ring" scam. The scammers are calling victims using an auto-dialing computer program to call telephones all over the country. The scammers let the telephone ring once then hang up. Unsuspecting victims then call the missed telephone number back and are then connected to a paid adult entertainment service located overseas. The victims are usually charged a $19.95 international calling fee and pay $9 or more per minute. Some of the area codes being used are 268, 809, 876, 284, and 473.

A few tips to avoid being scammed are to ignore incoming telephone calls that you are not familiar with, do not call back missed calls from telephone numbers you are not familiar with and to carefully check your telephone bill. If you feel you have been scammed, contact your local Law Enforcement agency.

I am excited to tell everyone about the RCSO's recently launched online interactive crime mapping program. Our new interactive CrimeReports map allows citizens to follow crime as it happens in Rockdale County. The map is part of a package purchased from Public Engines using seized drug money. The Public Engines package also includes a mobile app and tip software that citizens can download for their mobile devices. The interactive crime map can be found at www.crimereports.com/agency/RCSO.

I am also proud to tell everyone that RCSO Deputy Timothy Kutsch was recently named as the Law Enforcement Officer of the Year for the Department of Georgia Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States for 2013-2014. Deputy Kutsch was honored at an awards banquet held in Macon on February 15. He was also named as the RCSO Deputy of the Year for 2013.

I want everyone to know that the men and women at the RCSO continue to fight crime so that the citizens of Rockdale County feel safe. I encourage citizens to continue to call when they see suspicious activity to assist the RCSO in fighting crime. I would encourage everyone to continue to follow us on Facebook for the latest updates and information from the RCSO.