Newspaper Page Text
November 19, 2008
c; Reporter PAE ""
Complaint on hold while Perry on leave
BY WILL DAVIS of a joint effort between the
Forsyth Police Chief Forsyth Police Department,
Arthur Phillips
says the com
plaint that offi
cers mistreated a
Mary Persons
basketball star at
a drug raid last
month can't be
resolved until
Maj. Matt Perry
returns from
medical leave.
Perry was part
PERRY
the Monroe County
Sheriffs Office and
the joint narcotics
task force that
raided a James
Street home on
Oct. 1. The raid fol
lowed an investiga
tion into drug
activity at the
home. Authorities
reported finding
scales, baggies and
amounts of ecstasy, crack
cocaine and marijuana
inside the home. Six per
sons were arrested and
four face drug selling
charges.
Mary Persons High
School basketball star
Terrance Shannon was at
the scene but was not
arrested. The home
belonged to his grandmoth
er, who was not at home at
the time of the raid.
However, Shannon's moth
er filed a complaint that
two officers, Perry and Sgt.
Shawn Knight, mistreated
her son.
Since both departments
were involved, Chief
Phillips and Sheriff John
Cary Bittick assigned the
police department's Inv.
Dennis Piper and sheriffs
investigator Sgt. Ricky
Speir to look into the com
plaint. However, since only
city officers were involved,
Speir has since dropped off
the internal investigation,
said Bittick.
Phillips said Knight has
been cleared of any wrong
doing in the complaint. He
said that Piper has inter
viewed most every witness
and is just waiting to inter
view Perry.
But the investigation
stalled when Perry took an
extended medical leave,
said Phillips.
"Until he returns there's
nothing we can do," said
Phillips."As soon as he's
clear from medical leave
then the investigation will
resume."
Once an investigation is
complete, officers are either
cleared or disciplined, said
Phillips. If an officer is dis
ciplined, they can appeal to
the full city council, he
said.
Perry said he cannot com
ment on the investigation
and his medical problem
was not released.
Shelter
continued from the front page
mal shelter at the rec department
will have their say.
Commissioners had scheduled
the hearing after opponents
protested the shelter location,
presenting a petition in October
with 800 signatures. The county
had graded property at the rec
department and was getting
ready to pour a slab for a 3,300
square foot shelter. The county's
current shelter consists of a few
cages at the landfill, and commis
sioners had about $125,000 in
sales tax revenues for a pound.
Just before the county began
work, rec parent and coach
Jimmy Jones noticed the grading
and began asking questions.
When he learned of the plans,
Jones started organizing opposi
tion. In the midst of an election
year, commissioners postponed
the work at least until this
Tuesday's hearing. And two com
missioners, chairman Harold
Carlisle and commissioner Jim
Peters, have said they are pre
pared to move it to another loca
tion.
Commissioner Jim Ham told a
debate audience he would vote to
move it "at this time."
The location is right next to the
interstate and about 100 feet
from the outfield fence of the rec
department's baseball field No. 4.
Ham has said the shelter would
not be accessible from the rec
department, but only from
Fairview Church Road, which is
off Hwy. 42. He said the dogs will
be kept inside the shelter and
that an 8-foot fence will surround
the facility. He said there will be
no smell or noise and that it will
give the county more opportuni
ties to adopt out rather than
euthanizing dogs. However, coun
ty clerk Cindy Crowley said the
county currently doesn't have a
license to adopt out dogs and
doesn't have plans to get one. The
county takes in about 45-60 dogs
per month and euthanizes 85 per
cent, said Crowley. The pet rescue
group Save A Pet takes the other
15 percent and tries to find own
ers through its Bolingbroke facili
ty.
Districts
continued from the front page
remain Title I school
because it effects our feder
al funding,” Pack said.
Pack says every effort
was made to balance the
school districts, based on
available enrollment pro
jections. A 2007 decision by
the U.S. Supreme Court
made it unlawful for school
districts to be based on
race.
“We do believe each
school is as balanced as
possible, based on the
numbers we have right
now,” said Pack. “It’s impor
tant that our schools mir
ror the community as
closely as possible. We
know we cannot please
everyone, but we are doing
everything we can to make
sure we take care of the
boys and girls of this coun
ty”
The board decided not to
take any action until the
public has had a chance to
look at the districts, ask
questions or make com
ments. The district maps
will be on display at the
Monroe County Schools
central office, located at 25
Brooklyn Ave., from 9 a.m.
to 4:30 p.m. now through
Dec. 1. Comment sheets
will be available. The
school board meets again
at 7 p.m. on Dec. 9 and is
expected to vote on the
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proposed districts at that
time.
Pack says construction of
Sutton Elementary is on
schedule and the contrac
tor expects to have the
building “dried in” by
January. The process has
begun to hire a principal
for the school. Pack says
after the principal is
named, they will begin the
process of assigning teach
ers. Pack says teacher pref
erences will be solicited
and taken into considera
tion when making those
assignments.
“We will look at prefer
ences and look at needs
and balance it accordingly,”
Pack said. “We do realize
this transition period will
be an anxious time for
teachers, students and par
ents. Our main goal is to
have three strong staffs for
three great schools to meet
the needs of the students.”
K.B. Sutton will be the
smallest elementary school
in the county. A smaller
version of T.G. Scott,
Sutton will have a capacity
of about 530 students. T.G.
Scott has a capacity of
around 700 students and
Hubbard Elementary can
hold about 600.
The middle school dis
tricts will remain the same
for next year. When it is
needed, there is enough
land to build a third mid
dle school next to K.B.
Sutton Elementary. The
school board does not
anticipate that will be nec
essary for several years.
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