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THURSDAY. OCTOBER 5. 2023 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 5B
Letters
totk Editor
To the Editor:
Thanks for being the local
voice of the community.
I can’t overstate how im
portant I believe local and
credible newspapers are
today.
We are bombarded by so
much news and information
daily. It’s hard to tell what is
meaningful and even some
times what is factual.
Dan Loy
To the Editor:
Let s Not Forget the Other
Homeless
Recently there has been
much focus on the homeless
problem in Pickens County
and how some groups are at
tempting to find solutions to
provide safe shelter for these
individuals and families chal
lenged by their living situa
tion. But there is another
homeless group in Pickens
County that desperately
needs attention. These are the
dogs and cats being housed at
the Pickens County Animal
Shelter. Despite attempts by
several local volunteer
groups to assist, the manage
ment and operation of the
shelter continues to decline.
During the second week of
September an incident oc
curred resulting in the need
less death of one of the
shelter dogs after being at
tacked by another dog due to
poor supervision of these
helpless animals.
Stray animals are a na
tional crisis, but the humane
handling and care of these
animals demands a well-or
ganized and well managed
shelter in our county. This
can only be achieved by hav
ing knowledgeable and expe
rienced management
following procedures and
principles as required by the
Georgia Animal Protection
Act, Rule 40-13-13 of the
rides and regulations of the
state of Georgia.
I would like to suggest to
the county commissioners
that they form a citizen advi
sory board to provide input,
guidance, and direction to as
sist the county in making sig
nificant improvements to the
facility, its staff and opera
tion. Currently, the well-in
tentioned but inexperienced,
manager and staff are over
whelmed, resulting in issues
with sanitation, record keep
ing and as described earlier
the unnecessary and tragic
mauling of an animal under
their care.
As citizens and taxpayers,
it is our responsibility to
work with government to
help provide for those in
need. We ask the county
council to do just that.
Michael Levitt
Letters welcomed - No letter more than 450 words; Send to
news@pickensprogress.com or Pickens Progress 94 N. Main, Jasper, Ga.
30143; All letters must have a full name that will be published, and contact info.
(Email Address or Phone Number), which will not be published.
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In addition to the activity
from the Uniform Patrol Di
vision, Court Service
Deputies reported the fol
lowing statistics for the past
week:
Persons Scanned at
Front Door: 1,335
Weapons Found: 11
Courts Held: 13
Arrests Made in
the Courthouse: 1
Civil Papers Received: 44
Civil Papers Served: 30
In the Adult Detention
Center:
Total Jail population: 83
Total male inmates: 66
Total female inmates: 17
Sex Offenders:
There are currently 71 sex of
fenders registered with the
Pickens Sheriff’s Office.
Psq
REP
The Pickens Sheriff’s
Office responds to many
calls for service every day.
The following incidents are
a few deputies respond to
each day.
Wanted person arrested
Deputies went to a home
looking for a person who had
an active warrant. Deputies
were at the front and back
doors and could see inside
the house. The deputies
knocked on the front door
and announced they were
there, and why they were
there. The deputies could see
through the window a man
walking around and possibly
trying to hide. The deputies
once again announced them
selves and the reason why
they were there. Finally, the
deputies were able to arrest
the wanted person.
Missing handgun
A man came to the sher
iff’s office to report his hand
gun missing and possibly
being stolen. The man said
when he got home he saw the
gun, and then the man dozed
off. When he woke up a
friend was in the house. The
man asked the friend what he
was doing and the friend said
getting a poster. The next
morning the man noticed the
gun was missing. The man
said he called the friend and
asked if he had taken the gun
and he said he had not. The
gun was put into the system
as missing.
Harassing phone calls
A man called for a deputy
to report harassing phone
calls. The man is a business
owner and had posted on so
cial media about wanting to
help people who want to start
up the same type of business.
A businessman who runs the
same type of business com
mented on the post. Then the
businessman started calling
the man, even as late as mid
night. The man blocked the
businessman’s number and
told him to stop calling, but
he continued. The deputy ex
plained what steps the man
should take after the report
was filed.
Roommate disagreements
A woman called for a
deputy due to issues with her
roommate. The woman said
she had let the roommate
move in a few days before
but she thinks he is stealing
things from her house. She
also thinks he is using nar
cotics. The woman said she
found what she believed to
be drug-related objects and
threw them away. The
deputies explained the evic
tion process to the woman.
The roommate wasn’t there
while the deputies were there
and the deputies left. Then
the deputies got a call to go
back to the home. The room
mate said he had been there a
couple of weeks. The room
mate said he thought the
The Sheriff’s Beat
From the Pickens Sheriff’s Office
woman had taken his wallet.
The woman said she had not
taken the wallet. There was
no evidence that she had
taken the wallet.
Criminal trespass
A man called for a deputy
to come out because of some
damage to property. The man
said he had put out a vinyl
sign about an upcoming
event and someone had shot
it with a shotgun. There was
also a blue and white road
sign that had been shot with
a shotgun. The man said he
had spoken to someone who
was in a camper near the
signs and they had heard
gunshots that afternoon. The
man said he had an idea of
who would have shot the
signs, but he did not have
proof.
Fraud
A man came to the sher
iff’s office to report fraud.
The man said he had been
scammed into buying $1,800
worth of Apple Cards. The
man had a check sent to him
in the amount of $1,800 but
according to the bank the
corporation that sent the
check did not exist, so the
check was fake. The man
needed a report to document
the incident.
Civil Dispute
A woman called for a
deputy about a civil dispute.
The woman said her son was
currently in jail and he had
signed a power of attorney
and had it notarized for her to
be able to handle his affairs.
The woman said her son’s
wife took ownership of her
son’s truck after he was put
in jail and the wife allowed
anyone to drive it. The
woman wanted to collect the
truck and keep it safe for her
son. The woman said previ
ously her son’s wife had
forged her son’s name on a
title to a motorcycle and sold
it to someone else. The
woman is afraid her son’s
wife will do that again while
he is in jail.
Violation of a no-contact
order
A woman came to the
sheriff’s office to report her
mother had sent a letter to the
woman’s juvenile children.
The woman said she thought
she had a court order that
would prevent her mother
from contacting the woman’s
children. The deputy did re
search in two different coun
ties and discovered there was
not a no-contact order in
place. The deputy informed
the woman that there was no
court order. The incident was
documented in a report for
the woman.
Dog grooming scam
A woman called for a
deputy to make a report
about being scammed. The
woman said she had put on
Facebook she was in need of
a mobile grooming service.
A lady reached out to her of
fering her services. The lady
told the woman she would
need to send $120 to reserve
an appointment for the next
day. The next day no one
showed up. The woman tried
to contact the lady through
Facebook again and could
not. The woman called the
business the lady claimed to
be associated with and they
told her they did not have any
dealings with the lady that
contacted her. The woman
believes she was scammed
and wanted a report written
in order to document the in
cident.
During this past week, the Pickens Sheriff’s Office
responded to or initiated 1,718 calls for service.
These numbers are taken from the report provided di
rectly from the 911 Center where all calls are logged
as they are performed. Below is
a breakdown of all
dispatched calls by the call type for each incident.
Accidents
13
Suicide Threats / Attempts
0
Domestics
13
Theft / Burglary Related
11
Forgery / Fraud
9
Traffic Stops
148
Citations Issued
27
Animal Investigations
6
Suspicious Persons/Activities
28
Alarm Calls
13
Stranded Motorists
7
Street Hazards
7
Vandalism
2
Abandoned Vehicles
2
Extra Patrol - neighborhoods, businesses, resi
dences 1,256. In addition to these, other calls include
search warrants, civil service, 911 hang-up calls, as
saults, disorderly persons, missing persons, assistance
with medical calls, natural death investigations, de
mented persons, funeral escorts, harassment, trespass-
ing, and many more.
19 Individuals were booked into the Adult Deten
tion Center on charges from the Pickens Sheriff’s
Office. Out of these, the following charges were
taken by PSO deputies (note: some individuals have
multiple charges):
Hold for another county -1
Simple assault - Family Violence - 2
Battery- Family Violence (1st Offense)
Obstruction Of LEO - 2
Hindering Apprehension Of Criminal - /FEL/ -1
Superior Court Bench Warrant -1
Production order for court -1
Violation of Rico Act -1
Drive W/ License Susp/ Revoked - 2
Driving W/O a valid license -1
Susp/canceled revoked reg - 2
Drug Court Violation 24 hrs -1
DUI -1
Poss by convicted felon or fel first offender -1
Flee/attempt to elude/fel/ -1
Removing/ affixing tag to conceal -1
Violation limited drive peppermint cond -1
Court order -1
Probation Violation/ FEL/ -1
pur/poss controlled substance -1
Drug-related Obj (1st and 2nd Offense) -1
Laying drag/reckless driving -1
Veterans Court Violation -1
Bethsadia
Fernandez
GRISHAM, POOLE
& CARLILE, PC
Criminal Defense | Family Law
"You can't go back and change the beginning,
but you can start where you are and change
the ending." ~ C.S. Lewis
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