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The ADVANCE, October 6, 2021/Page 15A
Georgia losing troopers,
public safety personnel
By Tim Darnell
Staff Writer
Capitol Beat News Service
Thanks to the COVID
pandemic, civil unrest and
violent crime wave, Geor
gia’s Department of Public
Safety (DPS) has suffered
a 60% reduction in the
number of state trooper
applications over the last
18 months.
During a state Senate
study committee meeting
Thursday, DPS chief of
staff Josh Lamb told sena
tors the 745 troopers on
the state agency’s current
payroll and 223 motor-car
rier officers are the lowest
in his 24 years of service.
“In 2020, the depart
ment lost 87 troopers ei
ther due to retirement, res
ignation or termination,”
Lamb said. “And now, re
tention has become as big
an issue as recruitment.
We’re having a tough time
getting them into the front
door and an equally tough
time keeping them from
leaving through the back
door.”
The committee was
meeting to hear from dif
ferent state departments
on their current number of
employees and the overall
health of the state’s retire
ment program.
Lamb was asked by
state Sen. Elena Parent,
D-Atlanta, how the depart
ment’s pay scale compares
to other jurisdictions.
“We’ve raised the
starting trooper’s salary
from $36,832 to $47,350,
and that’s still not enough,”
Lamb said. “Sandy Springs
just revamped their pay
scale to a starting salary of
$52,641, and for the At
lanta Police Department,
for prior-sworn officers,
that pay scale begins at
$54,440.”
Lamb also said his de
partment has shortened
its trooper school for pri
or-sworn officers from 34
weeks to 13 weeks.
Nonetheless, DPS has
seen an overall turnover
rate of 22% over the last
two to three years. The
troopers lost in 2020 alone
represented a $7.8 million
DPS investment, Lamb
said.
This story is available
through a news partnership
with Capitol Beat News
Service, a project of the
Georgia Press Educational
Foundation.
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“President Joe
Biden’s administration
is preparing for as
many as 400,000
more illegal immi
grants to enter the
United States south
ern border in October
in another unprece
dented surge, De
partment of Home
land Security officials
told NBC News this
week."
“People who will
not believe in a Cre
ator put their faith in
humans to work mira
cles. Just wait for the
next variant to make
the rounds and the
next round of shots
and mandates."
“Biden has been in
office less than one
year and the entire
country is in immense
danger on many
fronts - Russian pipe
line over American oil
interests, hundreds of
thousands of invaders
across our borders
who bring disease
and criminal activity
and threaten our
economy, prefer
ence of Chinese
trade agreements
over American ones,
to name a few."
“Any society that
kills its own children
doesn't deserve to
have any. Any soci
ety that allows its chil
dren to be abused
doesn't deserve to
have any."
“The Supreme
Court and Congress
refuse to accept the
fact that if they let
the president do
these insane things
it's THEIR fault."
“In the 8 months
that Joe Biden has
been president, gas
for my car costs over
$1 more per gallon. I
use 20 gallons per
week, so I now pay
$20 more per week,
which is over $1,000
more per year. Thanks,
Joe, for nothing."
“The only way to
have voter integrity in
the state is to first get
rid of all electronic
voting machines.
Then clean up the
registered voter rolls.
Have each voter pro
duce a valid ID. Vot
ers cast votes on a
paper ballot with a
serial number. But I
guess this process
would be too compli
cated for our GA
state officials."
“It would be great
if the newspaper
could do some inves
tigative reporting on
where our civil fine
dollars are going from
the school camera
fines. It's great that
the school systems
get the money, but
what are they doing
with $300,000 to
$400,000 additional
income? I hate to do
a FOYA Act, it sure
would be nice to
have it in the paper."
Stovall Sentenced in
Theft from Gas Company
A former employee of
Patriot Gas Company of
Vidalia has been sentenced
to serve time in prison and
pay restitution following a
conviction on theft by tak
ing charges.
Teleshia Stovall, a for
mer secretary at Patriot
Gas, was convicted Sep
tember 17 on three counts
of theft by taking over
$ 115,000 between January
1, 2016, and July 24, 2018.
A previous newspaper
article reported that the
owners of the company
met with police to report
that they believed Stovall
had been stealing money
from the company. The dis
crepancy in the company’s
finances was discovered in
an audit.
The co-
Teleshia
Stovall
owners
told po
lice they
believed
that
when a
cash pay
ment was
made, Stovall was pocket
ing the cash. Stovall had
been with the company for
five years before the dis
covery was made.
Stovall was sentenced
to a term of 40 years, with
five years to be served in
prison, and ordered to pay
$115,118 in restitution,
Middle Judicial Circuit
District Attorney Tripp
Fitzner said.
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Books will be available at the signing
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Tuesday, October 26,
4 - 6 pm. at
20s E 1st St,Vidalia, GA 30474
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