I would like to thank all community members for their support and donations this past December during our Shop with a Cop program. The police department was able to raise a little more than $11,000 to help provide Christmas to 113 needy children. We were grateful for the help of the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Department, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, City Employees and Rockdale County government employees in putting this program on. Shop with a Cop would not be possible without your support.
We have also scheduled another Citizen Police Academy which will begin in March. The Citizen Police Academy is a 12-week series of classes where citizens learn about the work of police officers. They participate in a number of hands-on activities that include processing a crime scene, forensics, patrol, K-9 demonstrations and other police functions. For more information, please check out our website at conyerspolice.com or contact Community Outreach Sergeant Peggy Dunn at (678) 374-5603 or peggy.dunn@conyersga.gov.
We also wanted to provide information on an ongoing problem that we are having at various intersections within the community. Some of the specific locations are Ga. Highway 138 and Dogwood Drive, Ga. Highway 138 and Salem Road and the Interstate 20 intersections. When drivers try to get in the intersection in order to “beat the light” and not have to wait for another traffic light cycle, they are putting themselves, other drivers, emergency responders and innocent lives in danger. This course of action blocks the intersection preventing those drivers who have the green light to proceed and blocks first responders en route to emergency calls. It is also against the law. Georgia Code section 40-2-205 titled “Obstructing Intersection” reads:
No driver shall enter an intersection unless there is sufficient space on the other side of the intersection to accommodate the vehicle he is operating without obstructing the passage of other vehicles or pedestrians, notwithstanding any traffic-control signal indication to proceed.
This is an offense that drivers may be ticketed for. The best rule of thumb is “If you can’t clear it, don’t enter it.”
I also want to extend my congratulations and appreciation to Chad Sims for five years of service and Jay Archer for 15 years of service to the city of Conyers. These are milestone accomplishments that I am very proud of.
On Jan. 9, the Pinedale community was devastated by a fire that claimed the lives of four children. I want to commend the efforts of all the public safety personnel involved in this tragic event for the heroic efforts they made to rescue these children from the blaze. It has also been very gratifying to see the outpouring of support from the Rockdale community as a whole for the victims of this terrible tragedy. We will continue to keep the Glass family and the Pinedale community in our thoughts and prayers.
Gene Wilson, Conyers Chief of Police
