The Tift County Sheriff's Office participated in Thursday's Back To School Health & Safety Fair with Sgt. Yuriana Vazquez and Deputy Dallas Hancock.
Kids from the community were able to do basic health screenings and get free supplies with school starting next week.
Sgt. Yuriana Vazquez & Deputy Dallas Hancock represented the Tift County Sheriff's Office this morning at the Annual Conger Gas Hometown Heroes Kids Event.
For Immediate Release
Contact: Col. (Ret.) Brent Cummings, M.S., Director
404-413-1085 or gcummings3@gsu.edu
Tift County Chief Deputy Returns From Executive Education In Israel
ATLANTA - Chief Deputy Raymond Merritt of the Tift County Sheriff's Office has returned to Georgia from Israel after an intensive two weeks of public safety leadership training with the country's top police executives for the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange's (GILEE) 31st annual peer-to-peer executive education program.
Merritt was part of a delegation that included 17 Georgia police chiefs, sheriffs, command staff and a deputy director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Assistant Commissioner Joshua Lamb of the Georgia Department of Public Safety served as Head of Delegation. GILEE Director Col. (Ret.) Brent Cummings led the delegation, which included GILEE Founding Director Robbie Friedmann and Associate Director Nadia Borissova, who managed operations.
GILEE is recognized by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Treasury as a professional education program. GILEE shapes police executive leadership development through global engagement and an exceptional peer-to-peer experiential learning environment. It enhances public safety in the communities its delegates serve by sharing best practices in homeland security and community policing that emphasize the protection of civil rights and liberties. The exchange with the Israel Police is one of several global professional exchanges GILEE hosts through the year.
The Israel delegation learned about strategies to successfully lead law enforcement programs and personnel, along with how to use community policing to build safer neighborhoods for minority communities in partnership with all community stakeholders.
"We expose our delegates to policing systems under different cultures, different legal systems and different structures to help enhance their professional leadership development," Cummings said. "For example, leadership dilemmas faced by Israel Police executives are relevant to leadership dilemmas our delegates face at home. They learn to recognize challenges and how to better deal with them while forming their own thoughts on how to be better leaders. Our delegates learn important lessons from their peers on how to better serve their own communities."
Col. Billy Hitchens, Georgia's Commissioner of Public Safety, recently spoke to this year's GILEE delegates about how his experiences as a delegate last summer led to improvements in his agency's security protocols. While in Israel, they visited a local police station whose chief led them to a reception at the home of a local sheik.
"Chief Davidov, the commander of the Rahat police station, was our guide for this event," Hitchens said. "You could tell the pride he had in telling us about the progress he and his team had made in his community. That was obvious when we went to the sheik's home. The sheik went on to tell us how much the police had bridged the gap in the community under the chief's leadership. It was a great example of what community policing can do to bring a community together."
Israel Police Commander Jear Davidov, the commander of the Rahat police station, was a 2022 GILEE graduate. On October 7, 2023, he was killed battling Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Re'im. The GILEE delegation paid tribute to his family during their visit.
More than 1,300 law enforcement executives from the U.S. and countries around the world have graduated from GILEE peer-to-peer exchange programs in several countries and Georgia during its 33 years. Additionally, more than 45,000 public safety, homeland security and police executives have attended GILEE-led special briefings, seminars, workshops, training sessions and conferences featuring experts on issues related to homeland security, public safety, community policing and law enforcement.
GILEE is a research center within Georgia State University's Andrew Young School of Policy Studies whose focus on the protection of civil and human rights during its development of executive leadership exemplifies the core mission of the school. GILEE receives its funding from external sources. No financial support comes from Georgia State University or the Georgia State University Foundation.
For more information on GILEE, go to gilee.gsu.edu.
Today Tift County Sheriff Gene Scarbrough administered the oath of office to five new Detention Officers. From left to right: Chandler Thompson, Kobby Shaw, Zycarreous Starks, Kaliya Lewis & Herman Wallace.
Welcome.
Tift County Sheriff Gene Scarbrough today swore in two new Deputies and administered their oaths of office. Congratulations to Deputies Zachary Jenkins and Jared Bruner.
Today Tift County Deputy Dallas Hancock was selected as the Tifton Exchange Club's Officer of the year. Deputy Hancock started with the Sheriff's Office in 2018.
He currently serves with the Traffic Enforcement Division and the High-Risk Entry Apprehension Team, known within the agency as H.E.A.T.
On his off days Deputy Hancock volunteers to serve as a representative of this agency often speaking to school children about his duties as a Deputy Sheriff.
Deputy Hancock is shown with Levetta Jefferson, public safety chair for the Tift Exchange Club.
Bottom Line:
A disturbance will bring scattered showers and thunderstorms to the area Saturday. Some of the storms could be strong to severe with damaging wind gusts and frequent lightning, mainly over our Central Time Zone counties. Locally heavy downpours cannot be ruled out. Confidence in timing for Saturday is low.
Overview:
A disturbance will move across the Southeast on Saturday. Decaying thunderstorms off to our west late tonight will help set up a boundary near or west of our area by Saturday morning. This will be the focus for thunderstorm redevelopment. However, the placement of this boundary and the timing that storms will develop and move across the area remains highly uncertain. The environment will be supportive of a few of these storms becoming strong to possibly severe, and the Storm Prediction Center has outlined our Central Time Zone counties in a Marginal Risk for severe weather (level 1 of 5) on Saturday. The main severe hazard will be damaging wind gusts, but frequent lightning and locally heavy downpours will also be possible.
The Tift County Sheriff's Office would like to remind everyone to stay safe and be responsible as we approach Memorial Day weekend. During this time of remembrance, it is important that we celebrate in a way that ensures the safety of our community.
If you plan on traveling during the holiday weekend, always follow traffic laws, never drive under the influence of drugs and alcohol, and be mindful of your surroundings.
Please keep in mind that as outdoor activities increase, possible driving distractions also increase. Distracted driving could be taking your eyes off the road, your hands off the wheel, or your mind off driving.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has the following tips for distracted driving:
Do not multitask while driving (adjusting mirrors, selecting music, eating, making a phone call, or reading a text or email) - do it before or after your trip, not during. Get plenty of rest before getting behind the wheel and stop for frequent breaks to stretch, eat, etc. If you are a passenger in a car with a distracted driver, speak up and ask the driver to focus on driving. If you have a teen or young adult on the road, ensure they are familiar with the rules and responsibilities involved in driving. Reduce distractions for the driver by assisting with navigation or other tasks.Travel safely and enjoy your Memorial Day weekend!
Sheriff Gene Scarbrough
Sheriff Gene Scarbrough awarded Tammy Luke a plaque in appreciation of her service with the Tift County Sheriff's Office today as she retired after 21 years of service.