Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, January 12,2022
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 5A
911 calls in Dawson County rose by 13 percent in 2021
Erica Jones Dawson County News
Dawson County Board of Commissioners Chairman Billy Thurmond and an
aspiring young firefighter watch as community members take in the new
ladder truck at Dawson County Fire Station 2.
By Julia Fechter
jfechter@dawsonnews.com
Be it planned emergency
services upgrades or a
13-percent uptick in local
calls to 911, growth has
marked the work of Dawson
County’s first responders
over the past year.
Recently-released statis
tics from Dawson County
Fire and Emergency
Services show that person
nel from both sectors
responded to a total of
4,640 calls in 2021.
EMS took the largest
proportion at 3,506 calls,
with 3,190 of those calls
being for medical emergen
cies. Motor vehicle acci
dents accounted for 295
EMS calls.
Other calls encompassed
570 calls, while 447
responses were for service
calls. Firefighters respond
ed to 117 calls for fires last
year.
Put another way, Dawson
County Fire Chief Danny
Thompson said that fires
increased by 28 percent,
while medical calls
increased by 17 percent.
The bulk of responses are
for medical calls, he said.
Since the COVID-19
pandemic started, first
responders have helped
establish testing and vac
cine sites across the county,
something Thompson said
hadn’t really been done in
past years.
“We’ve planned for it;
we’ve trained for it...but
we never actually have had
to execute it until now,” he
said.
Thompson also discussed
the population growth that
becomes evident when one
drives along arterial roads
like Ga. 400, Ga. 53 or Ga.
136.
“Anytime you have
growth, you have more
vehicle traffic on your road
system and more vehicle
accidents. And that growth
isn’t just here in
Dawsonville,” he said. “A
lot of those are connecting
roads from other counties
that are also experiencing
growth, so you have what I
call pass-through traffic.”
Thompson also chroni
cled the fire department’s
accomplishments in 2021,
such as the new Fire Station
8 on Sweetwater-Juno
Road, the new ladder fire
truck for Station 2 or turn
out gear and air packs.
He called Station 8’s
establishment in March
2021 “huge for that area
and citizens,” given that the
area was previously under
covered.
He described the loca
tion’s first call as a structure
fire during its inaugural day.
Because the firefighters
were closer in proximity to
the blaze, their response
time was notably reduced.
Thompson added that the
ladder truck helps given the
apartment growth along the
Ga. 400 corridor. He com
pared large-box grocery
stores to high-rise apart
ments that are 10-15 stories
tall.
“Those large commercial
buildings like that present a
lot of challenges for your
fire departments...now we
have the tools to be more
successful,” he said.
He also anticipates the
construction and completion
of the E-911 and emergency
operations centers that were
approved under passage of
SPLOST VII. Those two
projects and the radio com
munications upgrade repre
sent $8.5 million in high-pri
ority expenses.
“I know there are areas of
this county that we can just
not transmit,” Thompson
said. “When those units get
in those dead zones, you
can’t call them on cell
phone or radio, so it’s
somewhat of a safety issue.”
“When I look at things of
that nature, I say, ‘Let’s
make it sustainable for
20-25 years from now,”’ he
said. “And then when we
build fire stations, [we do]
the same thing.”
With the number of can
didates they’ve had over the
past month or so, Chief
Thompson hopes that all 12
vacancies in the fire depart
ment will be filled within
the next month.
Along with water access,
lack of firefighters on scene
can affect the department’s
insurance services rating,
which is also important for
business and homeowners.
Fortunately, Thompson said
that he thinks they’ll see the
new faces sooner rather
than later because of the
commitment from the
Board of Commissioners.
“The commissioners
have invested in public
safety...and they’ve made
the salaries competitive,” he
said. “That’s key because
the market is so hot for law
enforcement and your fire
and EMS personnel.”
Man charged with violating his pretrial release
By Julia Fechter
jfechter@dawsonnews.com
After being granted
pretrial release for anoth
er case, one local man
now faces several
criminal charges
for allegedly
committing acts
of domestic vio
lence.
Dustin Allen
Dockery,
Dawsonville was
arrested by the
Dawson County Sheriff’s
Office
on Dec. 28 and
charged with four misde
meanor counts of battery
relating to family vio
lence. He was also
charged with two felony
counts of cruelty to chil
dren in the second degree
and one felony count of
criminal damage
to property in the
second degree.
Because of
these latest
alleged offenses,
Dockery was also
charged with a
failure to comply
pretrial and
received no bond
for violating release con
ditions.
In a pending 2020 case,
he was accused of commit
ting aggravated stalking
against the same person
against whom he allegedly
committed the more recent
offenses.
The incident related to
last week’s arrest
occurred on Oct. 3,
alleged multiple DCSO
warrants. Dockery
punched the victim in the
face with a closed fist,
put his hands around her
neck and bit on her left
arm and right knee,
according to four war
rants. These events alleg
edly occurred in front of
two young children, who
became upset and asked
the man to stop.
Dockery
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Incidents at urgent care clinic now being investigated
By Julia Fechter
jfechter@dawsonnews.com
Following allegations
online Jan. 4 that multiple
people misbehaved while
waiting at a COVID-19
testing site at the end of
December, the Dawson
County Sheriff’s Office ini
tiated an investigation later
that Tuesday.
The alleged incidents
happened on Dec. 27 and
Dec. 28 at Northside
Family Medicine and
Urgent Care, said DCSO in
an email to DCN. Neither
of the incidents were initial
ly reported to law enforce
ment.
During the Dec. 27 inci
dent, an unidentified male
subject went into the facili
ty to get a COVID-19 test,
but because he did not have
an appointment, he was
turned away, DCSO wrote.
The subject then became
angry and proceeded to
leave the urgent care, alleg
edly pushing the door
extremely hard to open it
and knocking it off its
hinge.
There was no glass
breakage, and it was
repaired the same day. Staff
at the urgent care reported
the incident to onsite securi
ty.
The next day, another
unidentified male came into
the urgent care using a golf
club as a cane. After being
turned away, he became
angry and allegedly made a
derogatory comment to the
staff. The male also alleged
ly pointed the club at an
employee and told them
that “he should hit her in
the head with the club.”
The male then left the
facility, and no damage was
caused. The staff member
advised that it was not
reported to law enforce
ment because no incident
occurred other than the
comment and threat. This
incident was also reported
to the onsite security officer.
DCN will update this
story as more information
becomes available.
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