Restrain Yourself

Thursday, November 20, 2003

By Bill Baldowski South Fulton Neighbor News Editor

Lt. Charles Pritchard, commander of the East Point Police Department's Traffic Enforcement Division, has seen firsthand how deadly the results can be when motorists don't wear seat belts or wear them improperly.

Pritchard is the south Fulton co-director of the Metro Atlanta Traffic Enforcement Network's statewide Click It or Ticket Campaign, set for Nov. 17 through 30. In that position, Pritchard intends to teach motorists the importance of seatbelt usage, even if it takes a traffic citation to do it.

If giving a motorist a ticket, "means one less motor vehicle accident fatality or serious injury because the driver or passengers were properly wearing their seat belts, then the program would have been successful," he said.

The veteran East Point traffic commander said statistics from the governor's Office of Highway Safety show East Point motorists have been more conscientious about wearing their seat belts.

"Click It or Ticket is designed to re-focus the importance of seat belt usage for all motorists," Pritchard said.

Since the Click It or Ticket campaign began in 1996, East Point officers have joined those in the traffic divisions of other Fulton municipalities, the Georgia State Patrol, the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Fulton County Sheriff's Department in conducting the campaign.

As part of the program, Pritchard said roadblocks will be set up periodically throughout the area, without prior public notice. Officers will check seatbelt usage by all occupants, as well as checking the status of drivers licenses and auto insurance coverage.

Despite an increase in traffic accidents in the area, the number of fatalities or serious injuries from those accidents has declined because of increased seatbelt usage, he said.

As in past years, officers will also check child safety seats at the roadblocks to ensure they are being properly installed and used. If a seat is found to be improperly secured or used, officers will show motorists how to fix the problem, Pritchard said. It will then be at the officer's discretion whether or not to issue a ticket.

The Governor's Office of Highway Safety, which originated the Click It or Ticket program, reported that in the first quarter of 2003, safety belt usage in East Point had risen to almost 78 percent. However, second quarter usage in the city climbed to 85 percent and was 84 percent in the third quarter.

"This is about a 6 percent increase in a six-month period," Pritchard said. "We haven't seen seat belt usage in East Point slack off because motorists believe if you are found not to be wearing a seatbelt, you will be cited for it."

For more information on Click It or Ticket, call (404) 765-1148.

Man gets life without parole for 2 slayings

Beth Warren - Staff
Friday, December 19, 2003
 

An Austell man was sentenced to life without parole Thursday for shooting his girlfriend in the face during a 1999 argument and killing her two roommates while making his escape.

The victims, all three best friends and age 18, had just moved to metro Atlanta from Boston to attend college. But on Aug. 26, 1999, Jason Pierce, 24, fatally shot Patrice Lassiter and Monique Brown inside their East Point apartment and seriously injured his girlfriend, Shunae Allen.

Allen moved back to Massachusetts and has since recovered.

Pierce, who also had lived in Massachusetts but was attending college in Atlanta, could have received the death penalty at trial. But Fulton County Superior Court Judge Alford J. Dempsey Jr. accepted Pierce's guilty plea agreement to malice murder charges.

In a rare and highly questionable move, Dempsey accepted the plea after the courtroom doors were closed and locked by a sheriff's deputy. Reporters, TV cameras and even spectators were kept outside.

Such hearings are normally open to the public unless a judge rules that they be closed. In those instances, the judge is required by Georgia law to first hold a hearing stating why the court proceeding should be closed and fielding any objections.

Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said he was surprised that the hearing was closed.

"It's clear there really was no reason to keep print media and anyone who wanted to observe out of the courtroom," Howard said. One of his assistant district attorneys also was briefly locked outside the courtroom until she found a back way in.

"This is a public courthouse," Howard said, "and those are public courtrooms."

The judge declined to comment beyond saying it was "a pending case," said staff attorney Soo Jo.

Defense attorney August Siemon had asked the judge to prevent TV cameras in the courtroom because it would make his client feel "uncomfortable."

But Siemon said he didn't know the courtroom doors had been locked during the hearing.

Fulton prosecutor Al Dixon said he heard the judge bar cameras but never heard anything said about locking the doors and closing the hearing to others. It's possible the deputies misunderstood the judge's instructions, Dixon said.

Fulton County Sheriff Jackie Barrett said she plans to talk to Dempsey about her deputies' role in the incident.

"I am unsure as to exactly what happened until I have the opportunity to speak to the judge myself," she said.

East Point Officer Remembered

WGST.com
Sunday, December 21, 2003

East Point police honored officer Christopher Betts Sunday on the one year anniversary of his death. Betts was killed when he was hit by an oncoming vehicle while he scuffled with a suspect on the side of I-285. His partner was critically injured. The female motorist stopped briefly and then drove away. A reward is still being offered for her arrest.

Working Christmas part of careers

From left, College Park Police Officers Jamal A. Gresham and Jeff Vanaman join Sgt. J.T. Rogers of the Fairburn Police Department and Lt. Michael Woodley of the East Point Police Department are among the many working Christmas Day.

About the time her 8-year-old daughter reaches for another gift under the tree on Christmas morning, College Park Police Officer Teri Jackson will be reaching for the on-board computer in her patrol car to check the license and registration of a motorist she has stopped for a traffic violation.

Although he'd prefer to be giving directions to one of his 10 grandchildren asking his help in assembling a model airplane he received for Christmas, East Point Police Lt. Michael Woodley will be directing the patrol activities of the 12 officers under his command as assistant watch commander this Christmas.

Although most police officers working Christmas Day in south Fulton would rather be home with family and friends, when an officer's regular duty day falls on Christmas, it is treated as just another work day.

"Sure, I'd like to be home with my kids on Christmas but police work is the career I have chosen and working Christmas just comes with the profession," Ms. Jackson said. "Public safety does not take a day off."

College Park Officer George Wilson II said, if he were off Christmas, he'd be spending the holiday with his parents and other family members at his aunt's home in Atlanta.

"For me, working on Christmas is like working a regular duty day and you have to approach it as such," he said. "It's just part of being in law enforcement."

These and other law enforcement officers will be working a 12-hour Christmas. They usually don't receive many emergency calls during the day but it is on Christmas night when problems occur, primarily with domestic violence calls and DUIs.

"The domestic violence calls are usually a result of the combination of a lot of people together in a somewhat enclosed space and drinking alcohol beverages at family gatherings," Wilson said.

"Liquor and alcohol seems to bring out hidden animosities."

DUIs are another big problem on Christmas, as people who may have been drinking at the home of a friend or relative throughout the day attempt to drive home in the evening.