Community Service
The Twiggs County Sheriff's Office is very conscious of its responsibility to the community. The following are a couple of examples.
Sheriff’s Office’s Public Service Announcement
By: Major James McDaniel
The Twiggs County Sheriff’s Office has created a public service announcement that sends a message that we are serious when it comes to enforcing DUI violations and occupant restraint violations.
The new PSA is in the form of a decal (see below) that will be placed inside local businesses, especially inside local convenience stores that sell alcohol. The decal displays logos from two popular traffic enforcement campaigns, Click It or Ticket and Operation Zero Tolerance. Also displayed is the patch logo of the Twiggs County Sheriff’s Office with big bold words that read “Strictly Enforced”. Decals were paid for with proceeds from the Friends of the Twiggs County Sheriff’s Office.
Click It or Ticket (CIOT) is a campaign put on by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and is the most successful seat belt enforcement campaign ever, helping create the highest national seat belt usage rate of 83 percent. Coast to coast, day or night, the message is simple - Click It or Ticket. The primary audience continues to be men ages 18 to 34, which research shows are less likely to wear seat belts. Every year during the holiday period, law enforcement agencies join forces day and night, from coast-to-coast, for an enforcement blitz that delivers on our message Click It or Ticket. The mobilization is supported by national and local paid advertising and earned media campaigns aimed at raising awareness.
Operation Zero Tolerance is Georgia’s high visibility enforcement program that targets impaired drivers through concentrated patrols and sobriety checkpoints. Through out the year police officers, sheriffs deputies and state troopers work together to protect everyone from impaired drivers. The Georgia campaign is part of the national You Drink & Drive. You Lose program. This campaign is also put on by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
According to Sheriff Darren Mitchum, the Twiggs County Sheriff's Office has participated in both national campaigns since he became Sheriff. In addition, the Sheriff’s Office aggressively goes after impaired drivers all in an effort to keep our roadways and highways as safe as possible. Sheriff Mitchum wants to remind all citizens to be responsible and not to drink and drive and always remember to buckle up.
Citizens are encouraged to report all suspected drunk drivers by calling 911 or the main office at 478-945-3357.
Deputies Get Certified As Child Safety Seat Techs
By: Major James McDaniel
Recently, all four members of the Twiggs County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Suppression Unit (CSU) were certified as Child Safety Seat Technicians. The course is a four-day course and is taught by the Georgia Traffic Injury Prevention Institute (GTIPI). GTIPI is an educational outreach unit of the University of Georgia, with primary funding support from the State of Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety (GOHS). The program is also a partnership among the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the National Child Passenger Safety Board, and Safe Kids Worldwide.
Major James McDaniel has been an in-house technician for the Sheriff’s Office for the past two years. The Twiggs County Health Department also has two technicians, Rhonda Howell and April Tolbert. With the recent CSU members being certified that brings the total to seven technicians for Twiggs County. The Sheriff’s Office invites parents or expecting parents to come by the Sheriff’s Office to have their child safety seats and booster seats inspected for any defects, recalls, if the seat is the proper seat for your child, and to make sure you have properly installed the seat.
The training program is designed to provide the participants with the necessary knowledge and technical skill to enable them to become a nationally certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians. CPSTs perform as a child passenger safety resource person for their community, department or organization. Topics covered in this college-level course include basics of injury prevention, federal role and safety standards, crash dynamics, vehicle occupant protections systems, types of child restraints, selecting and securing children in child restraints, correct installation of child restraints, misuse and compatibility issues, safety in other vehicles and organizing and coordinating a child safety seat check event.
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading killer of kids in the United States. Many injuries and deaths can be prevented by properly using car seats. With four out of five seats misused, certified technicians provide a valuable (and usually free) service to parents and caregivers concerned with safe transport for their most precious cargo.
For more information, visit the following web site:
| National Highway Safety Traffic Administration (NHTSA) |
| National Child Passenger Safety Board |
| Safe Kids |
| Georgia Traffic Injury Prevention Institute (GTIPI) |
| Governor's Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) |