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TODAY'S
ISSUE
Ex-Snellville police
chief looks back on 40 years of service
By Jimmy Davis
Retired Chief of Police, City of Snellville
Special to GwinnettForum.com
FEB. 24, 2004 -- As a rookie in 1964 I joined the Atlanta Police
Department for what I thought would be a short period of time between
classes in college. On January 31, 2004, some 40 years later, I
retired from service. I have seen the great changes in American
law enforcement.
When I began, World War ll veterans were the law enforcement leaders
throughout Georgia. There was little "verbal abuse" aimed
at officers. My Field Training Officer, a veteran and survivor of
the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, told me the first day I rode with
him (two days total for training until the Academy), "Make
sure YOU go home at the end of your shift no matter what happens."
My eyes were opened to unspeakable things in that day and this
day, too: child abuse, homicide, violence, alcoholism and other
"social problems" that good God-fearing people wanted
swept under the rug.
My life-long friend, Joe Fortune, said I was society's garbage
man. It took me years to accept that perhaps that's what police
do: sweep up human failure. As I worked my way up through the DeKalb
Police Department, and to a high-ranking position in Georgia Bureau
of Investigation's Drug Enforcement, I realized that all of us were
mere "Band-aids" on severe wounds.
Law enforcement has seen night-to-day, A-to-Z changes. We are told
that technology changes every three to five years.
Remember that police work is still an apprenticeship: you learn
by doing. Chiefs are constanly reminded at in-service classes that
the person with the greatest influence in any department is not
the chief or other superiors, but the Field Training Officer.
Today's technology will allow instant wanted checks on persons,
vehicles, weapons and addresses sent directly via satellite and
to patrol cars. However, technology has not allowed officers to
look into the heart and souls of suspects or read their thoughts.
Technology hasn't allowed a small officer the ability to duke it
out with a 6' 7", 300 pound. drunk. But we have made much progress
with courses such as "Verbal Judo," allowing smaller,
less physical officers to deal with unruly, violent and rude violators.
As chief and as a supervisor, I made a statement each day: "Do
your duty!" Police officers have the broadest discretion of
any vocation; that is, from no action, up to and including deadly
force. We ask these men and women to do this job for us.
Support them. Defend them. They are out there around he clock for
you!
When with the GBI but working throughout Georgia, I claimed Snellville
as my home of almost 30 years. My tenure with the Snellville Police.
was most rewarding. I served under three great mayors, all of whom
had and have a vision for the future of the City. The men and women
of Snellville Police Deparatment. are the finest officers that I
have served with.
My time is over. I would not trade any job in the world for what
I been allowed to do. I told Mayor Oberholtzer that it was my great
honor and privilege to serve as Snellville's Chief of Police. Gwinnett
County has the finest cooperation between law enforcement agencies
in the State. Be proud and glad that this is the case.
ELLIOTT
BRACK
Vacancies
signal drop of high-tech employment in Gwinnett
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com
FEB. 24, 2004 -- The downturn in business that we have just gone
through has hit one segment of the Gwinnett business community-the
high tech field---harder than just about any place in the nation.
 That's
the opinion of Alfie Meek, who is the Director of Forecasting and
Research for the Department of Financial Services of the county
government. You might call him Gwinnett's "in-house guru"
when it comes to economic forecasting and recording.
Mr. Meek has been busy lately telling the story of the Gwinnett
turndown in the economy, and making predictions for where the economy
is going in the future. His quick analysis for the future: "Long
term, the high tech employment will be a good foundation for the
Gwinnett economy. But we are not going to see the type of growth
in the 1990's. It will be sustained growth.
 "Short
term, high tech will not be a source of growth, though it will be
important. The short term growth will come from population related
sectors, like health care and landscaping, dry cleaning, that is,
any type of services."
For sure, Meek can track where the economy has been. But the high
tech downturn that the county has seen might signal an opportune
time for those who want to step forward and invest in the county
in the short term.
First, take a look at a graph that Mr. Meek shows off these days.
It is an amazing depiction of the roller-coaster activity that Gwinnett
County experienced in the High-Tech community in the last few years.
Note that Mr. Meek calls this graph the "High Tech Recession/Correction."
 In
1993, Gwinnett counted some 10,000 high tech jobs. Then began a
process of seeing relatively fast growth in this sector of the local
economy, hitting more than 16,000 jobs in 1998. Then began a relatively
sharp decline in high tech employment in Gwinnett, to 14,000 in
2000, and down to 11,500 in 2003.
From 1993 to 2003, though many found work in the Gwinnett high
tech community, at the same time many lost these high-paying, high
tech jobs. For the decade, Gwinnett gained a total of 1,500 high
tech jobs.
 Today
many of these gee-whiz firms have much unused capacity. Their machines
are there, a few people run them, but there is low output. The positive
sign is that they can quickly become much more productive, once
orders start coming in.
Coupled with this drop in high tech employment has been the failure
of first one high tech firm after another. Either they went out
of business, or local offices of these firms were closed.
You can see this in signs along high tech corridors, In just a
four block area of Technology Park/Atlanta, a series of "Available"
signs point to the high vacancy rate of what was once high term
space.
 What
this means for savvy local investors is that it's a great time to
gobble up real estate at relatively low prices. Of course, you must
then find a tenant for your space. But today the prices are right.
Gwinnett's 1990 economic good times, often driven by the high tech
community, is missing many of its former players. Yet Gwinnett remains
a viable place for firms to locate or expand in the future, especially
as it relates to services affected by the growth of population.
As you see the "available" real estate signs
come down, you will know that the local economy has bounced back.
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FEEDBACK
2/24: Not having
good manners part of our problem as a country
Editor, the Forum:
I hope everyone read Jan Kennedy's comment on good manners.
(Forum, February 20.) I feel fortunate to have had good manners
drilled into my head as a child, and I still follow them. That's
not so for a lot of people today. That's part of our problem
as a country today. Thanks, Jan.
-- Kathy Gestar, Snellville
2/24: Help Line
generates 16,000 calls in Gwinnett during 2003
Editor, the Forum:
In 2003, United Way 211 received more than 16,000 calls from
people in Gwinnett County looking to find or give help, an increase
of more than 3,000 calls from 2002. Calls from Gwinnett represent
more than six percent of total calls made to United Way 211
and have continued to increase since the inception of the information
and referral service in 1997.
Marina Peed, executive director, Gwinnett Housing Resource
Partnership, says: "We're receiving over a thousand calls
a month from people in our community requesting assistance with
their housing situation whether it be a homeless person who
needs a place to stay or a homeowner who just lost their job
and needs help with their mortgage." She adds: "211
is a way that people of our community can find us and receive
the help they need."
United Way 211 strengthens the community for residents of Gwinnett
by offering referrals for emergency food, shelter and clothing,
job placement, after school programs, childcare, summer camp
information, and other counseling services.
Recently United Way 211 received accreditation from the Alliance
of Information and Referral Systems (AIRS). This accreditation
process recognizes the organization's demonstrated excellence
in meeting the Standards for Professional Information &
Referral. It is the only such service accredited in the state
of Georgia.
-- Christina Lennon, United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta,
Duluth.
ENCYCLOPEDIA
TIDBIT
2/24: Innovations
at Georgia Tech could make trucks safer
An innovative technology under development by Georgia researchers
could improve the fuel efficiency of tractor-trailer trucks
worldwide while making the big rigs safer and easier to drive.
Engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are adapting
aerodynamic control techniques originally developed for aircraft
to help the boxy truck trailers move along the highway as if
they were streamlined. The technique, called a circulation control
system, involves blowing compressed air from a series of slots
on the trailers. Air exiting from the slots improves the way
that wind flows over the trailers as they move along the highway.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Maintains man's technology
also improves something else
"The benefit of technology is NOT in what it lets mankind
accomplish, but in how it improves the character of mankind."
-- Allan Hytowitz, Norcross.
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