September/October 2019

September/October 2019

ADVOCACY. SERVICE. INNOVATION.

Columns & Features In This Issue Cybersecurity and the Internet of Things | Bainbridge Finds Consolidation Success Police Departments Prioritize Mental Health | Is Chasing Suspects Worth the Risk?

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the Cities United Summit GEORGIA MUNICIPAL ASSOCIATION JANUARY 24-27, 2020

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GMA’s Cities United Summit is an exciting educational and2020 engagement event for municipal officials and staff!

January 24-27, Mayors, councilmembers, city staff and special guests will get access to advocacy tools, attend policy committee meetings, receive unrivaled training and be exposed to networking opportunities.

CITIES UNITED SUMMIT HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE

Invited special guests including Georgia’s top leaders

Opportunities to hear directly from Georgia legislators on the 2020 Session

The Capitol Connection Breakfast followed by a “Cities United” trip to the Gold Dome

Unmatched training opportunities offered by the Harold F. Holtz Municipal Training Institute

The Cities United Summit replaces the Mayors’ Day conference offered by GMA in years past.

Registration opens in October | Contact Erica Powell Grier for questions at epowell@gacities.com.

September/October 2019 Volume 1 • No. 2

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Table of Contents FEATURES CYBERSECURITY & THE INTERNET OF THINGS ................................................ 05 BAINBRIDGE FINDS CONSOLIDATION SUCCESS ..............................................12 POLICE DEPARTMENTS PRIORITIZE MENTAL HEALTH ...................................... 20 IS CHASING SUSPECTS WORTH THE RISK? ...................................................... 38 CITYSCAPES .................................................................................................... 08 + Leaders, What’s Your Evidence of Trustworthiness? + Thank You for Your Service + Cities Called to Join the Fight Against Human Trafficking

CITY DESK ........................................................................................................16 + Dunwoody Police Use Special Program to Empower Those with Special Needs + Small Town, Big Impact: Lyons Police Department + City Spotlight: Tallulah River

INSIDE GMA .................................................................................................... 24 + Can Simulators Prevent Police Car Wrecks? + Q&A: Meet GMA Training Board Chair Matt Donaldson + GMA Working Groups Serve Cities + Apply Today for the Visionary City Award

ADDITIONAL + Police Departments Expand Tool Box to Fight Drug Use ..................................... 32 + Overcoming Barriers to Participation in the 2020 Census ................................... 41 + Towns & The Law: Ransomware Cleanup .......................................................... 42 + GovDeals Offers Useful and Unique Finds ........................................................ 43 + Downtown Development: Georgia Placemaking Program Launched ....................44 + Downtown Development: Downtown Leaders Gather for Training & Awards ......... 45 + Federal Focus: Exploring the FCC Cable Order ................................................46

CITYLITES ........................................................................................................ 48 + Fairs and Festivals + Georgia Gems: Georgia Rural Telephone Museum

MARK YOUR CALENDARS: Visit www.gacities.com/events to access our full Calendar of Events!

FOLLOW GMA ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook & LinkedIn: Georgia Municipal Association & Twitter: @GaCities

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CYBERSECURITY & THE INTERNET OF THINGS:

CITIES EXPERIENCE THE NEW AGE OF PUBLIC SAFETY

BY ALIA HOYT

FOR ALL ITS INCREDIBLE CAPABILITIES, TECHNOLOGY CAN ALSO CAUSE STICKY SITUATIONS FOR CITIES, PARTICULARLY IN PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENTS. On one hand, well-armed hackers can do serious virtual damage, but similar savvy advancements are what’s propelling the internet of things (IoT) movement to make Georgia’s cities more efficient and productive.

Crime that can be seen and physically experienced is still a definite public safety concern, but criminals are increasingly moving into invisible digital territory and causing damage on departments specifically designed to keep people safe.

Just ask Doug Schad, detective and IT supervisor for the Lawrenceville Police Department (LPD), which was hit earlier this year by a ransomware attack that took the department completely offline for nearly a

month, leaving them without access to email and necessary files.

“Before, our network was designed to get us up and running and no one thought about security,” he said of the outdated system that they were in the process of upgrading at the time of the attack.

The new system was but one step in a series to prevent something similar from happening again. To fight back against the attackers (who never received a dime of taxpayer money), Schad and his team brought cybersecurity experts in to identify weaknesses, strengthen security and take measures to limit potential damage in the future. Implementing “zones” where different types of information is stored has been a key addition to the virtual armory.

“If one zone is corrupted, we can rebuild, but it doesn’t corrupt the entire network,” he said.

September/October 2019 | gacities.com 5

scanner system, which was paid for using asset forfeiIndeed, prevention should be the priority, but budget ture monies allotted from federal cases (such funds must limitations often cause government agencies to adopt be used to purchase tools to assist law enforcement). an attitude of, “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it,” Schad The system, which is composed of a lightweight said. “A lot of times you won’t know if it’s truly broscanner, tripod and “markers” that are used to denote ken—we didn’t,” he said. distance, perfectly captures the entire scope of a crime To prevent cities from similar catastrophe, Schad or crash scene, cutting crime scene investigation times recommends making sure that security functions are in half and storing valuable data in perpetuity. At any completely up to date and hiring a firm to identify vultime after the fact, investigators can recreate the scene nerable areas. using stored data, even animating it so that “You can watch your firewall “IT’S CRUCIAL FOR AGENCIES anyone from judge to jury can experience and see how many times your netAND BUSINESSES TO MAKE a “walk-through” rendering. Crash-scene work is being scanned and looked SURETHEY ARE FIGHTING TODAY’S specific software can pinpoint useful data into,” he said, noting that the threat CRIME, NOT CRIME FROM 10 OR including where the impact occurred, is virtually constant. “All it takes 20 YEARS AGO.” what the road conditions were like, and is that one time, at that small little can measure skid marks to determine acceleration spot.” speeds.

The human element is more difficult to control, but “Systems like FARO will help us do our job smarter, steps can be taken to minimize potential problems. more efficiently and at a cost savings to the department The LPD crisis began when an employee opened a ranand Brookhaven taxpayers,” said Brookhaven CSI Susomware file marked “Invoice,” which in turn triggered pervisor Jeff Hightower. the unfortunate chain of events. To prevent similar Sometimes, there’s plenty of law enforcement data glitches, now every email opens in a protective space, to work with, but not enough time or manpower to as does every attachment. handle it. The Atlanta Police Department (APD) recently Above all else, Schad implores cities to resist the sought to rectify this issue by retaining Yao Xie, assistant urge to be complacent, as cyber criminals are innovaprofessor of industrial and systems engineering at the tive and constantly evolving their tactics and tools.

Georgia Institute of Technology, for a couple of projects.

“It’s crucial for agencies and businesses to make The first initiative aimed to more efficiently process sure they are fighting today’s crime, not crime from 10 the massive amount of police reports generated by the or 20 years ago,” he said. department.

“The problem is that it is very hard to find related cases,” Xie said, noting that there’s a limited number of CITIES WORK SMARTER USING THE INTERNET OF THINGS employees to cull through enormous numbers of cases and pinpoint links. “So, we developed an algorithm to Is there anything more decidedly “now” than the IoT help them possibly identify related cases.” is very loosely defined as anything that connects to the She also used existing data to help the department Internet. The Brookhaven Police Department (BPD) has redesign zones and beats to more efficiently allocate especially embraced this relatively new tech branch, repolice resources and patrol units (there are about 13 cently investing $62,000 in the FARO® Focus 3D laser

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beats per zone, with officers assigned a particular beat for every shift). Based on the information, some zones got larger and others were made smaller with the intent of making response times in high-risk areas quicker.

“It’s very important that these zones are designed to match workloads in regions of Atlanta,” Xie said, adding that she used existing APD data, as well as public census data to construct a predictive algorithm to estimate future workload (as more people move to or from a given

area, the needs change). The feedback on Xie’s efforts has been so favorable that she’s now engaged with the city of South Fulton to analyze their police zones.

Xie’s efforts are but the latest example of how the IoT is constantly growing and changing. “Many people think of IoT as using physical sensors to acquire different kinds of data,” she explained. “But it’s really about how to make use of these data sources available to us and make smart cities happen.”

WAYS TO AVOID FALLING FOR PHISHING SCHEMES Phishing is a type of cyber-attack that affects many organizations, including city governments. Phishing attacks can take numerous forms, but they all share the common goal of getting an individual to share sensitive information such as login credentials, credit card information or bank account details. While your city’s IT team partners should have controls in place to help protect networks from cyber threats, individual city officials and employees are the first line of defense.

GMA ENCOURAGES ALL CITY OFFICIALS AND EMPLOYEES TO REVIEW AND OBSERVE THE FOLLOWING EMAIL BEST PRACTICES: Do not click on links or attachments from senders that you do not recognize. Be especially wary of .zip or other compressed or executable file types.

Wire transaction requests received via email should be verified with the vendor and approved by the CFO. Do not provide sensitive personal information (like usernames and passwords) over email.

Watch for email senders that use suspicious or misleading domain names.

Inspect URLs carefully to make sure they’re legitimate and not imposter sites. Sometimes the change may be as small as one letter.

Do not try to open any shared document that you’re not expecting to receive.

If you can’t tell if an email is legitimate or not, contact your IT department immediately.

Be especially cautious when opening attachments or clicking links if you receive an email containing a warning banner indicating that it originated from an external source.

When in doubt, call the sender to verify that the email is legit (but do not respond by email to the sender).

September/October 2019 | gacities.com 7

CITYSCAPES

Leaders, What’s Your Evidence of Trustworthiness?

BY DUBLIN MAYOR PHIL BEST, GMA PRESIDENT

Trust—the foundational element needed by leaders to govern for the common good—is in short supply.

A NEW REPORT FROM THE PEW Research Center confirms what many instinctively know, that our confidence in government, elected officials and, unfortunately, each other, continues to decline. It also contains a glimmer of hope — there’s a belief that things can get better.

First, the bad news.

Seventy-five percent of American adults believe that trust in the federal government has been shrinking, while 64 percent believe trust in each other has declined. Sixty-four percent of Americans say that problems are harder to solve because of low trust in the federal government. Seventy percent also blame the low trust people have in each other for our inability to solve problems.

The report contains more disturbing news: 49 percent believe people are less reliable than they used to be; 69 percent believe the federal government withholds information from us; 61 percent believe the news media doesn’t report stories that are important; 57 percent don’t think other adults make informed decisions when they vote; and 58 percent don’t have confidence that we’re able to conduct civil conversations with those that have different views.

Now, the good news.

Eighty-four percent believe it’s possible to increase trust in government, while 86 percent believe it’s

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possible to improve our confidence in each other.

How? It’s simple. Americans believe that “local communities can be laboratories for trust-building as a way to confront partisan tensions and overcome tribal divisions.”

That’s it. That’s the good news, nothing more than the belief that we, as Americans, have the means to do better. And let’s not forget that one little part about, “trust being regained by efforts at the local level.”

There isn’t enough space in this column to hit on everything we can do to move the needle on trust. But I do think we need to understand one thing before we can make any headway, and that is that trust is something that people give to others or institutions because it has been earned. It is something that is given.

As we address the challenges in our communities, the question before us is what can we do to be trustworthy? It’s up to us to provide the evidence of our trustworthiness. And we can do that by being competent at what we do, being reliable by doing what we say we’ll do, and being honest.

The report from the Pew Research Center outlines the problems with trust and the belief that it can begin to be repaired at the grassroots level in our communities. We can look at this either as a burden or an opportunity. I tend to look at it as an opportunity to shine, to show others how to get things done in a way that honors our democratic ideals while working towards the common good.

Thank You for Your Dedicated Service

BY LARRY HANSON, GMA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

I’ve always admired the city officials that I’ve been privileged to work with during my career.

I’VE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO see firsthand the dedication and sacrifices mayors and councilmembers make to serve their city and their constituents. Public service is rewarding, but its challenges require a unique skillset to have the patience, stamina, determination and vision to be successful.

What I consistently see in my role at GMA—no matter the city’s size or location—is elected officials who genuinely want to make their city a better place. I look at our training programs and admire the time and commitment you give to learn from experts and from your counterparts, with the goal of taking ideas back to your city to solve problems or plant dreams. I see the time you give to serve well beyond your duties on your city council or commission.

GMA offers many opportunities to serve, whether on the board of directors, on a policy council or an advisory board. We always want to honor your investment with opportunities that allow you to serve in an area you’re passionate about, which is why we recently announced more service opportunities through GMA’s new nonprofit Georgia Cities Solutions (GCS) and the Children and Youth Advisory Council. The mission of GCS is to help our cities address issues that often prevent them from reaching their full potential including workforce development, poverty and literacy. The

Children and Youth Advisory Council will help us share resources and identify solutions to serve this valuable demographic. Along with our Municipal Workforce Development Advisory Council, these organized efforts will feed ideas and propose solutions to the GCS board for implementation. Please consider these opportunities for you to serve and provide input. While not one person alone has the answer to every problem, the collective wisdom we bring helps us take many valuable ideas and formulate promising plans. We all benefit when we approach our challenges with a diverse team of talented city officials who share the common goal of making their cities better.

I know your public service often comes at great sacrifice. It takes time away from your business and your family, and even from your city elected duties. But your time and your service to GMA is critically important to the success of our efforts to help cities. I marvel at the work product that comes from our various committees and boards. I see selfless dedication, a willingness to listen to others, an open mindedness to new ideas and a commitment to serve for the greater good of all cities.

Public service is a public trust. And I commend all city officials from all 538 GMA member cities for your service to your city, to GMA and for the trust you foster among your citizens by giving of yourself so freely.

Together we will continue to make a difference in our cities, communities and state as Cities United.

September/October 2019 | gacities.com 9

Cities Called to Join Fight to Eliminate Human Trafficking

BY MARTY KEMP, FIRST LADY OF GEORGIA

TRAVELING THE STATE, BRIAN and I learned about a wide range of challenges facing hardworking Georgians. Since Election Day 2018, those issues have been the focus of our efforts as a family in serving the people of our state. I have always had a passion for speaking for those who did not have a voice. I knew that would be the theme of my time as First Lady, but I did not realize human trafficking would be a top priority of mine until Jan. 2 of this year. That day, my family and I attended the #StopTraffick event where 72 school buses drove around metro-Atlanta during rush hour traffic. Each bus represented fifty children–a total of 3,600–sold into modern-day slavery every year in Georgia alone. This demonstration painted a powerful picture.

I knew fighting human trafficking had to be my focus and that I couldn’t stay on the sidelines. Too many Georgians were trapped without a voice. Shortly after Brian’s inauguration, I announced the GRACE Commission (Georgians for Refuge Action, Compassion and Education) to combat human trafficking in our state.

Since then, the commission has been hard at work raising public awareness and bringing key stakeholders together in order to develop strategies to bring justice to perpetrators, rehabilitate victims and end human trafficking in Georgia.

It was an honor to present alongside my fellow commission members, GBI Director Vic Reynolds and Street Grace’s Vice President of Policy Camila Zolfaghari, at GMA’s Annual Convention in June. A month before GMA’s Annual Convention, we held the first GRACE Commission meeting where members

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presented in-depth analysis on how this threat is plaguing our state. This constructive conversation highlighted efforts currently underway by non-profits, government agencies and private businesses to keep our citizens safe.

Georgia CARES, a state-wide human trafficking and exploitation service agency, testified that human trafficking cases have been reported in 145 of our 159 counties. It’s clear human trafficking is not just a problem in urban centers across Georgia, but a serious issue in every corner of our state. This problem spans geography, race, gender and socio-economic status.

In fact, over 50 percent of human trafficking victims are recruited by their friends and family, and the average age of a human trafficking victim is 14.8 years. No child deserves to have their childhood robbed by this horrible industry.

The criminal enterprise behind this national operation is strong, well-funded and organized. Awareness and education are key in combatting this evil. Recognizing the red flags to identify human trafficking and knowing where to report it will save lives. At the GMA Annual Convention, I shared a story about Delta Airlines and their requirement for all in-flight and tech ops staff to participate in anti-human trafficking training.

Just a few days after one of those sessions, two employees were at a conference in Florida when they stopped for lunch at a local restaurant chain. They noticed two young girls with an older man and it closely resembled a scene in their training. They took note of what they observed, called the police and provided a tag number. It turns out the car was stolen, and those girls had been in serious danger.

That’s why I’m working with the Georgia Department of Administrative Services to create a state-wide, anti-human trafficking training program. In the coming weeks, we’ll roll it out for all 80,000 state of Georgia employees. These hardworking Georgians will then know how to recognize warning signs, notify the right people and hopefully save lives.

As we partner with local, state and federal law enforcement to hold bad actors accountable, we are also working to restore victims whose lives are forever changed by sexual exploitation. I know this is an uncomfortable topic, but eliminating this evil begins with shedding light on it wherever it exists. I challenge you to stand with us in your communities. We need your help.

Host training sessions for local government employees to recognize warning signs, hold town hall meetings to educate citizens or team up with organizations to collect necessities for survivors. If the GRACE Commission or state government can be of help, please don’t hesitate to reach out and ask.

Our message is clear: Human Trafficking is Not Welcome in Georgia. I promise you that I will continue to fight until every victim is rescued, because one person trapped by human trafficking is one too many. Working together, we can end human trafficking in Georgia once and for all and ensure a safer, stronger Georgia.

September/October 2019 | gacities.com 11

CONSOLIDATION SUCCESS BAINBRIDGE WINS WITH 30 YEARS OF JOINT PUBLIC SAFETY

BY KELLI BENNETT

It’ll be hard for Bainbridge Public Safety Officer Jessica Matthews to forget the day her fire training kicked in while on a public safety call, allowing her to halt a possible housefire.

Matthews and fellow officers of the Bainbridge Public Safety Department (BPSD) were ending a domestic violence call that resulted in both residents leaving the home alone.

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Instead of simply locking the home to prevent burglary— protocol for many police-only officers—Matthews did a full walkthrough of the home, which she had been taught in fire training. During this walkthrough, she discovered the suspect had been so inebriated that he left the stove on.

“If I hadn’t completed fire training, I wouldn’t have known what to check. It’s second nature for me and my team,” said Matthews referring to the mandated cross-training for the BPSD. While integrated first-responder agencies (primarily known as public safety departments) are not a new

concept—the oldest was established in 1927 according to researchers at Michigan State University's School of Criminal Justice—a very small number of jurisdictions have fully integrated the functions of law enforcement, fire suppression and emergency medical services. In 2016, the Michigan State University School of Criminal Justice, joined the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) to release “Consolidated Public Safety Departments: A Census and Administrative Examination.” This report identified 131 consolidated public safety agencies nationwide, with 47 percent located in Michigan.

The report also outlined the three levels of department consolidation—full, partial and nominal. Full consolidation generally involves a complete integration of police services with fire services. In this model, public safety officers are cross-trained in both police and fire services. In fully consolidated departments, a small number of public safety officers who are ready to respond with the larger fire apparatus remain in the fire station.

Partial consolidation typically means having a limited number of public safety officers (PSO) trained as both police officers and fire personnel working alongside separate police and fire personnel in the same department. In a nominally consolidated department, police and fire services are not integrated, and consolidation is generally limited to the chief executive.

According to Chris Hobby, Bainbridge city manager for 18 years, BPSD’s calls are approximately 98 percent police work, but all officers (excluding fire engineers whose sole function is to operate the fire apparatus) are cross trained in accordance with the department’s policy.

The idea of a consolidated public safety department in Bainbridge originated with former Mayor Bill Reynolds, who served from 1978 to 2006. He was intrigued by the idea of cross-trained officers after seeing the success of other departments in the Midwest. By the time Bainbridge City Manager Charles Tyson stepped into his role in 1986, the Bainbridge City Council had

September/October 2019 | gacities.com 13

already voted to consolidate the police and fire departments, but little had been done to complete this drastic change, said Tyson. He was familiar with consolidated public safety departments, thanks to his time as the city manager in Johnson City, Tenn. Tyson described the transition from two separate departments to one as a difficult process due to resistance from some personnel. “There were some firefighters who just wanted to be firefighters—not made to serve as police,” he said.

Both BPSD Director Jerry Carter and Chief Investigator Larry Funderburke, who’ve served the city for a combined 80 plus years, vividly remember the department’s consolidation. Funderburke recalls traveling with Reynolds and Tyson to Aiken, SC to study the community’s public safety model.

“We shadowed them around and they showed us the pros and cons, and about a week after we came back home from Aiken, we were the new Banbridge Public Safety Department,” he said.

OVER 30 YEARS OF SAFETY SUCCESS A report, authored by Dr. Paula Sampson of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, studied the feasibility of consolidating the fire services provided by Bainbridge with those provided by Decatur County.

This report also outlined several efficiencies of public safety models including a deep dive into Bainbridge’s success over the years. According to the report, public safety models minimize personnel cost for local government by using the time when firefighters are not responding to a call to deliver law enforcement services.

This model also reduces overlap when an ambiguous call is made to both fire and police. In addition, the

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model’s cross-training element reduces potential personnel redundancy.

Sampson also found that Bainbridge’s fully integrated public safety department is far less costly on a per capita basis than cities with police and fire services. In addition to saving taxpayer dollars, residents benefit from quicker response times, said both Hobby and Tyson who referenced the department's current two-minute response time versus the five to seven-minute response time before consolidation.

The city’s Insurance Service Office (ISO) rating, which grades fire suppression capabilities for communities, also improved from a seven to a four. Tyson credits a large part of this rating to consolidation.

When asked about the keys to the department's more than 30 years of success both Tyson and Hobby noted progressive leadership, community engagement and intentionally branding the department as one unit (versus some fire safety officers and some strictly public safety).

Public-safety sponsored community events include the Bainbridge Public Safety Citizens Academy, Copsicles for Kids, Oscar Jackson Outdoor Camp, Shop With a Cop and fire hydrant painting.

“Being involved in the community and actually reaching out to kids in the community and showing them that we care and we’re there for them is a big part of the job and helps them see our guys as one team,” said Fire Engineer Michael Jenkins.

Hobby commends Bainbridge leaders for taking a chance by creating a joint department. Their “all-in,” progressive mentality really made the department work, he said.

“We combined the departments, they all work the same shifts. We did not try to do some hybrid or to have a quasi-public safety department. We went all in with public safety.”

Both elected and public safety officials have maintained this same progressive energy over the years, even in the face of national objection to joint departments. Opponents of the public safety model theorize

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that quality of service is often compromised to balance strained budgets, and staff in these department models may have low morale, which could result in excessive turnover.

But Sampson found that “compared to other municipal police departments of similar size in southern Georgia, BPSD turnover does not appear to be problematic. The average annual turnover rates for BPSD and four other cities for 2012–2016 are similar.”

While pointing to both the reports' findings and community satisfaction over the years, Hobby also cautions cities considering a cross-trained department to first consider their “true” intentions for consolidation. Though Bainbridge has seen significant monetary savings from the combined departments, money shouldn’t be the sole motive, he said.

“If you're willing to sacrifice service to save money, then don't do this [consolidation],” he warned.

He also advises researching other communities’ public safety models and taking a thorough assessment of a city’s current state and needs.

“You have to know your community and what your needs are,” Hobby said. “I would certainly look at what we’re doing here in Bainbridge. But I would also look at what other communities are doing and the academic research on consolidated departments.”

Once safety leaders have completed this due diligence, Hobby encourages them to take full control of this change.

“When you jump in…jump in,” he urged. “I wouldn’t half do it—the half approach is not going to get you what you want.”

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CITY DESK

Dunwoody Police Use Special Program to Empower Those with Special Needs While some relationships between law enforcement agencies and their communities have declined over the last several years, the Dunwoody Police Department (DPD) has worked against this reality by remaining focused on building positive relationships while delivering fair and impartial services to those they serve, according to DPD Chief Billy Grogan.

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THE DEPARTMENT’S EFFORTS INCLUDE The Domestic Assault Response Team (D.A.R.T.) to help victims of domestic violence and the Safety and Friendship in Education (S.A.F.E.) program, a partnership with local elementary schools. Another one of DPD’s school-based programs started in 2016 when Sergeant Michael Cheek approached Grogan about designing a program for students living with special needs who attend the DeKalb County schools located in Dunwoody.

“The main goal of the program is to help those with special needs learn to interact with law enforcement in a controlled environment,” explained Cheek, who has an autistic son, which helps him understand the needs and concerns of parents with special needs children. “We visit with the students and teach them about the police, socialize with them and include ourselves in some of their activities,” he said.

After an enthusiastic endorsement from Chief Grogan, Cheek began the hard work of planning and implementing the program. He first spoke to the principals at each school located in Dunwoody and explained the program. He then met with teachers from each of the special needs classrooms to get their support, then finally met with the administrators from DeKalb County schools, who readily approved the program.

Sgt. Michael Cheek on a school visit.

With approval came program planning, volunteer signups from the officers and department staff and the naming of the program. After several brainstorms and recommendations, the department decided on “The Griffin Project,” in honor of Cheek’s son.

During the last three years, the Griffin Project has served over 80 students through monthly visits from DPD. “Sometimes, we’ll have class discussions about a timely issue such as crosswalk safety or how to call 9-1-1,” said Grogan. “Other times we sit with the students and help them with their school work. Regardless of the activity, the result is the formation of true bonds of friendship, a better understanding from both perspectives and an increased positive image of our department.”

“Our staff is making a difference in the lives of these special needs students,” Grogan continued as he referenced an email from a parent praising the program’s impact on the special needs community and the sender’s daughter.

“A program like The Griffin Project can be easily replicated in any community,” said Grogan who encouraged communities to first find a champion for the program who can spearhead planning, getting buy-in from school administrators and finally securing support from the public safety department and city leaders to serve as volunteers.

Chief Billy Grogan joins Sgt. Cheek and students.

September/October 2019 | gacities.com 17

Small Town,

Big Impact Lyons PD Goes High-Speed & Helps Furry Friends Population: 4,367 AFTER MUCH RESEARCH AND CONSULTATION with the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police, the Lyons Police Department (LPD) implemented the First Net system, built with AT&T, in early September. According to the FirstNet website, the company’s mission is to deploy, operate, maintain and improve the first high-speed, nationwide wireless broadband network dedicated to public safety.

Still new to the program, LPD Police Chief Wesley Walker looks forward to the benefits, “I do believe it will give us other communication advantages than our traditional VHF radios,” he said noting the department’s new ability to dispatch officers directly from their office, to see in real time where each patrol officer is while on duty and maintain special patrol functions without overwhelming 911 operators with radio traffic.

According to Walker, there were no additional costs accrued by the city or the department for FirstNet. State public safety leaders also praise LPD for their drug recognition experts.

“While they are a small department, these officers are trained to conduct field sobriety tests to identify driver impairment and recognize impairment levels as well as what substance they may be

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using,” said Dwayne Orrick, Assistant Executive Director of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police.

“This is an exceptionally hard training and certification program, and very few people hold this certification in Georgia.”

In addition to recent public safety enhancements, LPD also celebrated a win for its animal adoption shelter, which is run by the department. In July First Lady Marty Kemp visited the Lyons Animal Shelter and took photos with several animals.

“These dogs were adopted because of the exposure from Mrs. Kemp,” said Walker. “From there, she was gracious enough to invite us to the Governor’s Mansion for a pet adoption day, where two of the three dogs were adopted before we left.”

The Lyons Police Department

City Spotlight

Tallulah Falls

HISTORY: The city of Tallulah Falls made history this past January by swearing in its first female police

POPULATION:

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MAYOR:

Teri Dobbs GMA DISTRICT:

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chief, Tonya Elrod. Elrod, who was also the first female patrol deputy in Habersham County, hit the ground running with community engagement—meeting business owners, residents, school officials and residents within the first few months of her serving the city.

In addition to this history-making appointment, the small city of Tallulah Falls is also home to historic sites including the Tallulah Gorge, which has been referred to as the "Niagara of the South." Tallulah Falls is where the Tallulah River made its magnificent drop into the Tallulah Gorge. Travelers made this area into a destination known as one of the most beautiful areas of the Eastern United States. The coming of the railroad in the late 19th century made this town a more accessible tourist hub. Rufus Lafayette Moss, one of the men responsible for bringing the railroad to town, was also one of the founding commissioners of Tallulah Falls when it was first incorporated in 1885.

EVENTS & ATTRACTIONS: Visit the Tallulah Gorge State

Park where you can enjoy a seven-mile mountain bike trail in the park, rock climbing in the Gorge or swimming at Georgia Power's Terrora Beach.

POLICE DEPARTMENTS

PRIORITIZE MENTAL HEALTH 43.8 million adults in the U.S. experience mental illness each year. Almost 10 million people report struggling with a serious mental illness that interferes with their major life activities, and 16 million reported having at least one major depressive episode within the past year, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

IN 2018, THERE WERE OVER 15,700 POLICE reports made by the Athens-Clarke County Police Department (ACCPD), and 1,047 of those reports involved someone living with mental illness. Fortunately, 140 of those mentally ill residents were connected to appropriate treatment resources thanks in part to the Mental Health Collaboration and Georgia’s Crisis Intervention Team training.

The collaboration, a partnership between ACCPD, Clarke County Sheriff's Office, Advantage Behavioral Health and the University of Georgia’s Fanning Institute, was created in 2016 to reexamine how mental health issues are treated—both as a policy and community wide. The collaboration was funded by a twoyear, $150,000 planning grant awarded by the Department of Justice.

Intervention Response Unit. From patrol officers to suThe collaboration, which initially began to analyze the perior court judges, elected officials and community local population and community’s infrastructure, inpartners, everyone has stepped up to support this initiaspired former ACCPD’s Police Chief Scott Freeman to tive, Cochran said. work toward a more mental-health focused program Seeking out resources and the expertise of the duo in Athens-Clarke County. That’s where Special Police has become second nature to ACCPD officers who have Officer Robie Cochran and Katie McFarland, a licensed not only experienced the benefit of McFarland and Coclinical social worker with Advantage Behavioral Health chran’s work, but have also completed CIT training on Systems, come in. Together, the team works to break their own. The two also tag team to offer an advanced the cycle of individuals with mental illnesses staying in crisis training course to more seasoned officers. jail through ACCPD’s Crisis Intervention Response Unit.

“Because of the officers’ training, they are more Cochran and McFarland created and implemented equipped to deal with a lot of stuff that other departa system that works for them and remains in compliance ments might not be so comfortable with both Georgia Crime Informawith,” Cochran said. “The officers tion Center and HIPAA regulations. get really comfortable with asking “We’ve come up with our own “I want people to the question and knowing what to shared database,” Cochran said get help. Our jails do when somebody does indicate describing how he goes through and our prisons he or she is suicidal, which is someeach report and uses his Crisis Interhave become our thing the officers can use personalvention Training (CIT) and patrol exnew mental health ly and professionally.” perience as tools to decide which In addition to training officers, reports go to McFarland for further treatment, and the two also train the community mental health evaluation. “Once there has to be through a Mental Health 101 class Katie gets the reports, she takes this a better way.” that includes a QPR (question, perinformation and runs with it.” suade and refer) Certification.

McFarland uses the informaAthens-Clarke County’s Treatment and Accounttion from these police reports to cross reference patient ability Court (TAC) also supports the Mental Health Colrecords and follow up with individuals and/or their laboration’s objective by giving residents an extra push, families. said McFarland.

“These reports are very valuable on my end, be“Robbie and I do a lot of referrals to our accountabilcause we don't always know what's going on with ity courts, especially our mental health court,” she said. mentally ill individuals—like them having issues over the “We just had a graduation [from TAC] of a high-profile weekend or somebody standing on the bridge ready to resident. During the graduation, an officer from the jump on Saturday night,” she said. “Where we go from sheriff's office talked about how in the beginning nothere depends on the situation. A lot of the clients that body in the jail wanted to go in his cell, and now here we catch are already involved in wraparound services he is graduating.” with case managers. So, many times I'm reaching out to Cochran looks forward to ACCPD’s expansion of the case managers, and letting their doctors and nurses the program in the next few months with the county-apknow what's happening.” proved funding of another team dedicated to serving Both Cochran and McFarland agree that teamwork the mentally ill. This team will be very similar to McFarand support from leadership have been the two driving land and Cochran's. forces to the success and growth of the ACCPD’s Crisis

September/October 2019 | gacities.com 21

While grateful for this opportunity to serve the mentally ill population in his community, Cochran realizes that not a lot of Georgia’s communities are able to fund and house a team of this nature or even send all officers to complete the 40 hours of CIT training. For these instances, he still encourages departments to learn all they can from resources available to them including NAMI and a city’s regional Georgia Community Service Board.

These boards serve as the pre-eminent providers for those with mental illness, development disabilities and addictive diseases.

Brookhaven Police Chief Gary Yandura and NAMI Georgia Board Member also recommends safety departments to take the One Mind campaign pledge.

Founded by Louis Dekmar, International Association of Chiefs of Police Immediate Past President and LaGrange Police Chief, this campaign seeks to ensure successful interactions between police officers and persons

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affected by mental illness. To join the campaign, law enforcement agencies must pledge to implement four promising practices over a 12-36-month timeframe.

Yandura also encourages cities to participate in the Georgia Public Safety Training Center.

With the reality that police officers’ encounters with the mentally ill will continue, McFarland urges communities to equip themselves with training and tools to serve this vulnerable population.

“I want people to get help,” she stressed. “Our jails and our prisons have become our new mental health treatment, and there has to be a better way. I don't want people sitting in jail when they could go to a hospital or a crisis stabilization unit to get treatment. But we have to train our officers to make these calls.”

BELOW: SPECIAL POLICE OFFICER ROBIE COCHRAN AND KATIE MCFARLAND, A LICENSED CLINICAL SOCIAL WORKER, MAKE UP ACCPD’S CRISIS INTERVENTION RESPONSE UNIT.

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INSIDE GMA

Can Simulators Prevent Police Car Wrecks?

BY MATT WEEKS

Terry risk management research reveals how local governments can save big POLICE CAR WRECKS ARE THE BIGGEST RISK management expense related to law enforcement, causing local governments to lose money. New research from the University of Georgia shows that a driver training program can result in big savings.

Specifically, proper training with a simulator results in a 12 to 1 savings.

For a number of years, Local Government Risk Management Services (LGRMS), part of GMA and ACCG, has provided a driving simulator program for law enforcement officers. The associations knew the program was popular, but they didn’t know if it was effective.

To find out if the program was worth its cost, the agency turned to Rob Hoyt, who holds the Dudley L. Moore Jr. Chair of Insurance at UGA’s Terry College of Business.

“They wanted to know essentially two things: Does the simulator training reduce the frequency and severity of accidents, and is it cost-effective?” Hoyt said. “The board of the organization was wondering whether

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or not to expand the program, buy new equipment and keep investing in it. So they had to know if it was effective.”

LGRMS handles risk management for local governments across Georgia, providing insurance for thousands of police and sheriff ’s deputies, as well as other government employees, across the state. While the agency provides driving simulator training at no cost to its members, it has an interest in reducing the insurance cost for local governments.

“From a research side, this was an interesting case because the same organization provided both the simulator training and the insurance pools the local governments participate in,” Hoyt said. “They had access to all the information on both the automobile accidents and the simulator statistics.”

Using data from the agency, Hoyt ran a statistical analysis on police car accidents before and after simulator training. He compared the results to similar precincts across the state.

“What we ultimately found was some evidence that simulator training reduced severity, but those results were mixed,” he said. “What we did find was very compelling evidence around frequency. The training was highly correlated with reducing the number of accidents relative to size of the department.”

With the simulator’s effectiveness confirmed, the second step was to find out if those reductions were worth the cost of the training.

“We went back and got data on how much it cost to provide this training and compared that to the savings through reduced accident costs, and found that it was producing about a 12-to-1 return on investment,” Hoyt said.

The research not only helped LGRMS decide to continue and expand its simulator training program, it also was published in the Journal of Insurance Regulation.

The work has also caught the attention of law enforcement agencies elsewhere. This past spring Hoyt was invited to present his findings at a workshop hosted by the Center for Advanced Public Safety at the University of Alabama. Attendees included law enforcement officers from the Alabama State Patrol, University of Alabama Police Department, and cities of Tuscaloosa and Northport police departments.

This article was reprinted with permission from the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business.

To learn more about LGRMS and the simulator contact Dan Beck at dbeck@lgrms.com.

Quotables

“For police-community trust we must listen to and respect others’ perspectives. We must understand the implicit biases we all possess and the history of how police have been used to enforce laws that disparately impacted minorities. All institutions were involved in discriminatory policies and practices, the police were frequently the face of those practices.

Police leaders must be prepared to publicly acknowledge and, if appropriate, apologize for historical wrongs committed by the institutions they represent. At the same time, communities must be willing to accept this acknowledgement and apology. Then all must work together to address systemic outcomes of historic actions.”

— DWAYNE ORRICK, ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE GEORGIA ASSOCIATION OF CHIEFS OF POLICE

“The Georgia Pipeline Emergency Response Initiative was developed to give first responders a greater knowledge through education on how to respond to Pipeline Emergencies. Over the past three years, more than 5,600 first responders in Georgia have attended these classes to better prepare themselves to handle pipeline incidents. The goal of GAFC is to have every first responder in the state complete this training. Working together is working for Georgia!”

— CHARLES WASDIN, HAZLEHURST/JEFF DAVIS COUNTY FIRE CHIEF AND PRESIDENT OF THE GEORGIA ASSOCIATION OF FIRE CHIEFS

INSIDE GMA From reaching milestones on the association’s headquarters project to meeting with city leaders across the state and welcoming new team members, GMA has been busy improving its services and creating platforms for networking and local government learning.

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ASSOCIATION MAKES SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS ON HEADQUARTERS PROJECT GMA continues to make progress on it headquarters project with a projected completion date of Spring 2021. The three-phased project includes the completion of a new building, parking deck and the renovation of GMA’s existing building located at 201 Pryor Street in Downtown Atlanta.

“GMA has utilized its existing headquarters building for more than three decades. While the existing building is structurally sound and in good condition, GMA’s continued development of programs and services has caused the building to reach capacity in terms of available office, conference room and storage space,” said Perry Hiott, GMA Director of Community & Economic Development.

During the past decade, GMA has explored potential expansion options and acquired several properties along Peachtree and Pryor streets to plan for its future growth needs. In 2018, GMA completed a space study update to determine its future expansion needs and to prepare conceptual site plan options utilizing the properties that GMA already

owns on Pryor Street. In conjunction with the space study, an analysis of the existing GMA building confirmed that it is structurally sound and that its renovation would be more cost-effective than new construction, resulting in substantial savings.

Based on the space study and building evaluation, a new 29,500 square-foot, four-story building will be constructed in front of the existing GMA building and fronting Pryor Street. A courtyard will separate the two buildings, with a 147-space parking deck adjacent to the two buildings.

Stevens & Wilkinson is serving as the project’s architect, while New South Construction is the project’s construction manager at-risk and Comprehensive Program Services is the project’s program manager.

“If all goes according to schedule, construction of the new facility and parking deck could begin as early as January 2020,” said GMA Executive Director Larry Hanson.

An artistic rendering of the new GMA headquarters September/October 2019 | gacities.com 27

GMA LAUNCHES INAUGURAL 20 UNDER 40 INITIATIVE On Sept. 17, 20 elected city officials and staff convened at The Gathering Spot in Atlanta to kick off GMA’s 20 Under 40 Initiative. These emerging leaders make up the cohort’s inaugural class. The first meeting was sponsored by the Georgia Beverage Association, and Ryan Wilson, The Gathering Spot CEO and co-founder, served as the guest speaker.

GMA established this initiative to actively engage with elected officials and staff under the age of 40 and to better understand how the association can serve these leaders in both their local government and political capacities. The cohort’s dialogue and time together will be captured in a detailed report of recommendations for the association’s leadership. These leaders are set to meet again in Macon-Bibb County on Oct. 17 and back in Atlanta on Nov. 7.

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“The 20 Under 40 Focus Group brings together some of our state’s brightest elected and appointed city officials under the age of 40. We hope to learn from them how we can better engage, inspire and involve our next generation of great leaders,” said GMA Executive Director Larry Hanson. “Led by Kelli Bennett, Joel Wiggins and Charlotte Davis, three of GMA’s talented under 40 staff professionals, we know the work of this inaugural group will lead to more involvement and opportunities to serve young professionals. We also believe this will be a launching pad for new programs and ideas and lead to greater service for our 538 member cities.”

NEW STAFF JOIN THE GMA TEAM Thomaesa Bailey joined GMA as a governmental relations associate to support the association’s advocacy efforts. Bailey has advocated for organizations at the Georgia State Capitol for several consecutive legislative sessions. She brings experience from her time working with Troutman Sanders Strategies, the Multi-Agency Alliance for Children and the Southern Center for Human Rights.

Bailey holds a master’s degree in social work and is a third-year law student at Georgia State University’s College of Law. She is the legislation editor for the “Law Review,” and a Dean’s Scholar Award Recipient.

In 2014, Bailey founded From Boyz 2 Men, Inc. This initiative assisted in the creation of House Bill 19, which would have established a statutory process for legitimation of children of non-custodial fathers who pay child support.

Bailey enjoys watching documentaries on American political history, reading non-fiction books and traveling to big cities on vacation.

Emily Hirst joined GMA’s Legal Department as an assistant general counsel. Hirst comes to GMA from the Fulton County Legal Department where she worked as an assistant county attorney on a variety of local government issues including negotiating, reviewing and drafting contracts, providing legislative policy advice and reviewing legislation for

the county. She also conducted legal research and responded to requests from elected officials and department heads. Prior to her work with Fulton County, Hirst worked for some non-profit clients, law firms and the University of California, San Francisco, where she was a contracts and grants specialist.

Hirst holds a Graduate Diploma in Law from Oxford Brookes University in Oxford, United Kingdom and a BA (Hons) Fine Arts Degree from the University of Plymouth in Cornwall, United Kingdom.

She enjoys cooking, reading, rock climbing and cycling in her free time.

Emily Hirst and Thomaesa Bailey

GMA HOSTS CITY MANAGER REGIONAL MEETINGS During July and August, GMA held a series of five regional workshops for city managers. These regional sessions engaged city managers in a discussion of current issues in their cities and allowed the association to gain an understanding of how GMA can support managers to address these issues. Approximately 75 city managers, representing 53 cities, attended the meetings in East Point, Waycross, Americus, Macon and Kennesaw.

“It’s important for GMA to engage in conversation with city managers as they help us understand their needs and how we can be responsive to the needs of our cities throughout the state — big and small, north and south, urban and rural,” said GMA Executive Director Larry Hanson.

The meetings also provided an opportunity for peer interaction, an update on key legislative issues and a chance to learn more about GMA services and resources including the association’s “Starts with Me!” workforce development campaign, which was created to help address the

growing talent acquisition and retention challenges faced by Georgia’s cities and focuses on the heartwarming side of working in city government. The campaign is based on the research completed by the GMA Municipal Workforce Development Task Force.

GMA also provided city managers an overview of the association’s online Data Tools including the GMA Dashboard, which houses indicators for each city in Georgia along with city and statewide averages for comparisons. The Georgia Cities Like Mine data tool allows city officials to identify and obtain data on Georgia’s cities that are similar based on population, budget and demographics.

City managers also learned more about the Peer Cities tool, a robust resource with over 90 data variables that enables municipal officials to identify peer cities in terms of location, demographics, form of government, facilities and services provided and/or financial data, and more on the 2020 Census Toolkit.

September/October 2019 | gacities.com 29

ADVOCACY

STUDY COMMITTEES & HOMETOWN CONNECTIONS HIGHLIGHT CITY ISSUES The House Transportation Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant (LMIG) study subcommittee is currently reviewing the LMIG allocation formula. Representative Vance Smith (R-Pine Mountain) is the committee chair, and the members include Representatives Teri Anulewicz (D-Smyrna), Kasey Carpenter (R-Dalton), Tom McCall (R-Elberton), Danny Mathis (R-Macon) and Brian Prince (D-Augusta).

Various factors can affect the needs of a local government to receive LMIG funding and to ensure road safety, including lane miles, vehicle miles traveled, congestion, road capacity and type of road.

GMA applauds this review of the current LMIG allocation formula to determine whether the formula is (1) reasonable, considering the many factors that affect road use and the need for funding of road repairs and expansion; (2) effective, appropriately meeting the unique needs of local governments in all parts of Georgia; and (3) streamlined, optimizing efficiencies of scale.

GMA hopes that hearing from city officials about how the LMIG program has worked at the local level will encourage the committee members to recommend improvements to the way the funds are allocated to ensure that each city and county gets the maximum possible benefit from the program.

In addition, GMA recently participated in the Joint House and Senate Study Committee on Freight and Logistics. GMA is looking forward to working alongside the Georgia Department of Transportation, General Assembly members and others to address the demands of increased freight growth and manage congestion.

The city of Sharpsburg hosted a Hometown Connection.

HOMETOWN CONNECTION HIGHLIGHTS GMA applauds those city officials who have planned and participated in Hometown Connection meetings including leaders in the city of Sugar Hill, who recently hosted a Hometown Connection meeting to showcase a new e-center facility. Here they also discussed municipal successes and needs with members of the General Assembly.

GMA encourages all cities to meet with their legislative delegations prior to the beginning of the 2020 Session of the General Assembly. Hometown Connections are a great way to engage with state representatives 30

and keep them informed on city issues and the importance of home rule.

Hometown Connections build momentum for municipal success during the 2020 legislative session. For more information and tips for planning one for your community and representatives, contact GMA Governmental Relations Associate Charlotte Davis at 678-686-6291 or cdavis@gacities.com.

WORKFORCE HOUSING STUDY COMMITTEE REVIEWS DESIGNER STANDARDS The House study committee on Workforce Housing is anticipated to begin meeting soon. This study committee has been tasked to examine barriers to increased development of workforce housing, specifically related to locally established residential design standards, as proposed in House Bill 302/Senate Bill 172. City officials stay tuned

for more details on how to participate in this study committee and to be a municipal advocate for local processes to establish community aesthetics.

Study committee members include Reps. Vance Smith, Chairman; James Beverly; John Corbett; Tom McCall; and Jason Ridley.

RURAL DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL CONTINUES TO MEET The House Rural Development Council recently held its first meeting for this year. The council will continue to examine issues important to rural Georgia and will make policy recommendations for the 2020 Legislative

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Session on a variety of areas such as education, broadband and economic development. GMA will keep city officials updated on meeting topics relevant to municipal issues.

Police Departments Expand Tool Box to Fight Drug Use

BY AILEEN HARRIS

In 2014, the Holly Spring Police Department (HSPD) was the first in Georgia to provide Naloxone to every street officer.

NALOXONE IS A MEDICATION THAT BLOCKS the effects of opioids, especially in an overdose. Within a week of having Naloxone, a Holly Springs officer used it to save a life.

“We have often seen a reversal of those in overdose crisis from near-death to awake and active within a few minutes of use,” said Holly Springs Police Department Police Chief Michael Carswell. “It’s not a miracle drug that reverses addiction, but it can give people a second chance to get the help they need to regain control of their addiction.”

Referring to a recent White House report on opioid use, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr provided sobering statistics about drug use in America, noting that every day, 142 Americans die from a drug overdose.

“Between 1999 and 2015, more than 560,000 people in this country died due to drug overdoses – this is a death toll larger than the entire population of Atlanta,” Carr wrote. Georgia, Carr explained, is among the top 11 states with the most opioid overdose deaths, and 55 Georgia counties have an overdose rate higher than the national average.

After a Holly Springs Police lieutenant lost his daughter to a drug overdose, the department created 32

and implemented a full-fledged Naloxone plan.

“That lieutenant joined a growing movement of parents who advocated for the Georgia 911 Medical Amnesty law, granting amnesty from a drug-arrest if someone called for professional help for a person in a drug overdose,” Carswell said.

Holly Springs has had many opportunities to use Naloxone on people who were in opioid crisis, Carswell explained and has shared the substance with other police and fire departments who did not have it.

“Thank goodness, as of this year, our need to use Naloxone has dwindled to a trickle,” Carswell said.

Since last year, the Marietta Police Department has used a nasal spray form of Naloxone called Narcan to help save the lives of drug users.

“Our organization is very much into strategic planning. Last spring we realized that there seemed to be a lot of drug overdose cases and we took a look at the overall strategy,” said Marietta Police Chief Dan Flynn.

“We have a strategy for fighting drugs that’s a balance of three components: one is prevention, second is intervention and third is interdiction. I started looking at our intervention and realized there were still a lot of opioid overdose deaths.”

Flynn met with the fire chief and a representative with the city’s ambulance service provider. All three agencies decided to equip its first responders with Narcan. Last year, the agencies administered 100 doses of Narcan, saving lives.

“If we are able to save 90-95 lives, we are doing something right,” Flynn said. “But as much of a wonderful drug Narcan is, it just buys time. If we save their life today with Narcan, tomorrow or in two days or next week, they are back using.”

The Marietta Police Department decided to partner with Missy Owen, director of the Davis Direction Foundation, a non-profit she opened following the death of her son from a heroin overdose. Owen also operates the Zone, a center funded by the foundation that supports recovering drug addicts. At the center, counselors and psychologists help recovering addicts learn how to manage their lives while sober,” Flynn said.

Flynn and city police officers regularly visit the facility and interact with people focused on recovery.

McPhilamy said the officers' work with the Zone helps to break down the stigma of those dealing with addiction and the police department.

Earlier this year, Marietta PD developed the ASSIST Team, an opioid addiction intervention program. The program alerts police when someone is revived from an overdose using Narcan or similar drug that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose.

“Police officers will go out within 24 hours of someone needing Narcan,” said Marietta Police spokesman Officer Chuck McPhilamy. “We are not there to make an arrest or investigate. We are there to provide help. Our goal is to help him or her see there are recovery options and help to prevent a recurring overdose.”

Flynn said police officers provide addicts with information on how to get sober. Some reject the information while others follow through and contact resources that can help him or her get sober.

“You can’t get an addict sober and then just put them right back out in the environment they came from, they’re just going to go back to the addiction,” Flynn explained. “You can get them sober first, but then the second step is getting them into community recovery.”

The Holly Springs PD also partners with organizations like Drug Free Cherokee to act as a resource for families and individuals regarding substance abuse.

“We offer leadership and community engagement to assist with reducing and preventing alcohol and drug abuse among Cherokee County residents,” Carswell said.

On the prevention front, Flynn said the Marietta PD is involved in a lot of the youth programs with anti-drug messages, and it supports the county’s Accountability Courts such as Cobb County’s Drug Treatment Court.

That court offers months-long programs for drug users that include supervision, drug treatment and rehabilitation. The program also requires participants to attend frequent meetings, hearings and routine testing. Successful program participants have an opportunity to have their drug charges dismissed or avoid prison time.

“Accountability courts are very helpful in fighting the drug epidemic,” Flynn said.

McPhilamy said the Marietta PD advice to other cities is to partner with existing agencies that help drug users. “Take time to research all the agencies that exist in your community and partner with them instead of operating within you own silo,” he urged. Flynn added that cities should figure out how many deaths are occurring from drug overdoses.

“Your local medical examiner can tell you that very easily, and if you want to do more about it, then take a look at what you’re doing in the area of intervention and work out strategies.”

Marietta Police Chief Dan Flynn and Missy Owen, director of the Davis Direction Foundation

INNOVATION

Q&A: Meet GMA Training Board Chair Matt Donaldson It’s been quite a summer for Matt Donaldson, the new Municipal Training Board Chair. Donaldson, who represented GMA’s District 9 on the Municipal Training Board since 2017, took the helm on July 1.

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ON AUG. 6, DONALDSON WAS appointed to fill the unexpired term of Twin City Mayor Eileen Dudley, who stepped down.

Donaldson works for Durden Banking Company, Inc. in Twin City as assistant vice president and controller. He is also involved with multiple organizations including the board of the Development Authority of Twin City, president of the Friends of George L. Smith State Park, member of the Georgia Southern University College of Business Young Alumni Board and treasurer of the Adam Brinson Historical Society. Donaldson was appointed to the

Georgia Department of Community Affairs Annexation Dispute Panel in 2018 and is the first vice president for GMA’s District 9 and serves on the GMA Board of Directors.

Georgia’s Cities sat down with Donaldson to hear about his vision for the Harold F. Holtz Municipal Training Institute. The Institute, which is a series of training classes designed to help city officials enhance their knowledge and skills in municipal related matters, is operated through a partnership between GMA and the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government (CVIOG). The Municipal Training Board provides oversight to the Institute.

GC: What was your initial reason for joining the training board?

MD: My service on the Municipal Training Board was a unique opportunity to lead and guide the program that educates municipal officials in Georgia, an opportunity to serve the people of Twin City and the ninth district, and an opportunity to become involved in our trade group. I enjoy serving and volunteering, so this was a perfect opportunity for me.

GC: How does the training board work with the staff of GMA and UGA? MD: Similar to any board leadership role, you rely on the good work of staff. The Municipal Training Board works seamlessly with the GMA and CVIOG staff. We rely on both groups to maintain our top-notch, nationally recognized training program. The CVIOG and GMA staff develop the curriculum. The Training Board then approves the curriculum, and GMA handles the logistics

of the Harold F. Holtz Municipal Training Institute. It is truly a great relationship, and a true asset to the municipal officials of Georgia.

GC: What are your top priorities as training board chair?

MD: As board chair, I would like to see more municipal officials attend training. Although there are many officials already attending training, there could be more. I would like to determine the reasons why those officials are not attending training. As an elected or appointed official, you must seek out the opportunities to expand your horizons to be able to fully serve your constituents.

GC: What do you see as the program successes and where would you like to see growth?

MD: The successes of the Harold F. Holtz Municipal Training Institute are bountiful. At the 2019 Convention, the Institute awarded 96 training awards over the five certificate levels. Just in those five levels, over those 96 recipients, that is a minimum of 9,516 hours of training completed. That is 96 examples of trained and qualified Georgia officials. If we want strong city governments throughout our state, we need trained and educated officials. That is what the Harold F. Holtz Training Institute is doing, and it is important work.

GC: The Harold F. Holtz Municipal Training Institute recently surveyed GMA members about training.

How does the training board plan to use this feedback to enhance the training program?

MD: Although our training program is strong, there is always room for improvement. As mentioned earlier, I would like to determine why some officials are not seeking training. The survey seeks to answer that question.

Along with participation in training, we also want to know if we are providing the content that our officials need. We must continue to evolve our program with the changing needs of our officials. At our next board meeting, we intend to analyze the results of the survey and formulate a five-year strategic plan that will take our program to the next level. The Training Board is excited to see the results and plan for the future.

2020 Dates Set for Newly Elected Officials Institute The Newly Elected Officials Institute will be held twice in 2020. On Feb. 10-12 in Tifton at the University of Georgia’s Tifton Campus Conference Center and on March 4-6, at the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education and Hotel in Athens. Please save the dates.

Registration will open in November.

State law requires all persons elected as members of a municipal governing authority who were not serving as members of a municipal governing authority on July 1, 1990 to attend and satisfactorily complete a training program specifically designed for newly elected municipal officials.

GMA and the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government are pleased to provide this required training to Georgia’s newly elected municipal officials.

Municipal elected officials that have served before and have been reelected are required to take the Newly Elected Officials Institute again if they have been out of office for more than four years.

For more information contact Aileen Harris at aharris@gacities.com.

September/October 2019 | gacities.com 35

GMA’s Working Groups Serve Cities

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FEDERAL POLICY COUNCIL (FPC)

LEGISLATIVE POLICY COUNCIL (LPC)

CHAIR: Jim Thornton, Mayor, LaGrange – GMA Second Vice President

CHAIR: Vince Williams, Mayor, Union City – GMA First Vice President

MEMBERS: Phil Best, Mayor, Dublin – GMA President Boyd Austin, Mayor, Dallas Linda Blechinger, Mayor, Auburn Mike Bodker, Mayor, Johns Creek Keith Brady, Mayor, Newnan Pete Bridges, Mayor, Tallapoosa Allen Brown, Mayor, Hinesville Stan Brown, City Manager, Oakwood William Bruton, Jr. City Manager, Marietta James Burnette, Jr., Mayor, Suwanee Lisa Clarke Hill, Councilmember, Moultrie An’Cel Davis, Council Member, Riverdale Jamie Doss, Commissioner, Rome Danny Dunagan, Mayor, Gainesville James Elliott, Jr. City Attorney, McDonough Vanessa Fleisch, Mayor, Peachtree City Patti Garrett, Mayor, Decatur Cornell Harvey, Mayor, Brunswick Dorothy Hubbard, Mayor, Albany Dr. Deborah A. Jackson, Mayor, Lithonia Brian Jones, Councilmember, Union City Kelvin Kelkenberg, Councilmember, Duluth Michelle Cooper Kelly, Councilmember, Marietta Rey Martinez, Mayor, Loganville Jonathan McCollar, Mayor, Statesboro Felicia Moore, Council President, Atlanta Annette Morman, Mayor, Baconton Sam Norton, Mayor, Dahlonega Rusty Paul, Mayor, Sandy Springs Kay Pippin, Mayor, Jackson Hattie Portis-Jones, Councilmember, Fairburn Steve Quinn, Mayor, Jefferson Robert Reichert, Mayor, Macon-Bibb County Neat Robinson, Councilmember, Stockbridge Phil Sadd, Councilmember, Peachtree Corners Joyce Sheperd, Councilmember, Atlanta Julie Smith, Mayor, Tifton Rebecca Tydings, City Attorney, Centerville Kenneth Usry, Mayor, Thomson Susan D. Wilkinson, Councilmember, Smyrna Vince Williams, Mayor, Union City

MEMBERS: Phil Best, Mayor, Dublin – GMA President Steve Edwards, Mayor, Sugar Hill – Environment & Natural Resource Chair James Elliott, Jr. City Attorney, McDonough/Hawkinsville – Revenue & Finance Chair Isaiah Hugley, City Manager, Columbus – Transportation Chair Michelle Cooper Kelly, Councilmember, Marietta – Community Development Chair Fred Perriman, Mayor, Madison – Public Safety Chair Randall Walker, Mayor, Perry - Municipal Government Chair Boyd Austin, Mayor, Dallas Bret Bell, Deputy Assistant to the City Manager, Savannah Shelly Berryhill, Vice Chairman, Hawkinsville Linda Blechinger, Mayor, Auburn Mike Bodker, Mayor, Johns Creek Keith Brady, Mayor, Newnan James Burnette, Jr., Mayor, Suwanee Lisa Clarke Hill, Councilmember, Moultrie Wendy Davis, Commissioner, Rome Tom Dickson, Mayor, Varnell Marcia Hampton, City Manager, Douglasville Cornell Harvey, Mayor, Brunswick Skip Henderson, Mayor, Columbus Jon Howell, Councilmember, Jefferson Dorothy Hubbard, Mayor, Albany Mike Jewell, Gas Director, Covington Fatimot Ladipo, Director, Intergovernmental Affairs, Atlanta Paula Martin, City Clerk, Americus Felicia Moore, Council President, Atlanta Annette Morman, Mayor, Baconton Rusty Paul, Mayor, Sandy Springs Kay Pippin, Mayor, Jackson Pete Pyrzenski, City Manager, Tifton Robert Reichert, Mayor, Macon-Bibb County Neat Robinson, Councilmember, Stockbridge Matt Seale, Mayor, Ocilla Julie Smith, Mayor, Tifton Becky Smyth, Parking Services Manager, Rome Daniel Thomas, City Manager, Davisboro Jim Thornton, Mayor, LaGrange Keith Turman, Mayor Pro Tem, Royston Kenneth Usry, Mayor, Thomson Jason Weaver, Mayor, Screven Donna Whitener, Mayor, Blue Ridge Mike Young, Mayor, McRae-Helena

MUNICIPAL TRAINING BOARD CHAIR AND DISTRICT 9: Matt Donaldson, Twin City, Mayor VICE CHAIR AND DISTRICT 2: Liz Ordiales, Mayor, Hiwassee DISTRICT 1 James Henson, Councilmember, Dallas DISTRICT 3 Ron Fennel, Councilmember, Smyrna DISTRICT 4 Christopher Hightower, Councilmember, Barnesville DISTRICT 5 David Maynard, Mayor, Winder DISTRICT 6 Collinda J. Lee, Ph.D., Councilmember, Milledgeville DISTRICT 7 Robin Scott, Councilmember, Millen DISTRICT 8 Jeanie Bartee, Commissioner, Cordele DISTRICT 10 James Eubanks, Mayor, Pelham DISTRICT 11 Julie Smith, Mayor, Tifton DISTRICT 12 Bill Durrence, Alderman, Savannah AT LARGE POST 1 Rochelle Robinson, Mayor, Douglasville AT LARGE POST 2 Tiffany Walraven, Councilmember, Pembroke AT-LARGE POST 3 Jonathan Sumner, City Manager, Hahira UGA CARL VINSON INSTITUTE OF GOVERNMENT Stacy Jones, Associate Director GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY AFFAIRS Corinne Thornton, Office Director, Regional Community Services

MEMBER SERVICES ADVISORY COUNCIL GMA’s Member Services Advisory Council was established to provide ongoing guidance to the GMA staff on the service needs of the membership. Each year the GMA executive director in consultation with the GMA president appoints city officials from each of GMA’s twelve districts to serve on this advisory council.

CHAIR: Julie Smith, Mayor, Tifton, GMA Third Vice President Chris Addleton, City Manager, Cairo Telina Allred, City Clerk, Byron Sherri Bailey, City Administrator, Washington Mark Barber, City Manager, Valdosta Edward Beach, City Manager, Cordele Carolyn Bell, Mayor Pro Tem, Savannah Michael Bowens, City Administrator, Vienna Terry Branch, Mayor, Claxton Stan Brown, City Manager, Oakwood Phil Boyum, Councilmember, Statesboro Tina Coleman, City Clerk, Moultrie Anthony Ford, Mayor, Stockbridge Lisa Goodwin, Deputy City Manager, Columbus Jonathan Herschell, City Manager, Hartwell Cynthia Jenkins, Mayor Pro Tem, Newnan Ed Johnson, Mayor, Fayetteville Jestin Johnson, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Atlanta Tammi Saddler Jones, City Administrator, Smyrna Paula Martin, City Clerk, Americus Elizabeth McLean, City Manager, McRae-Helena David Milliron, City Manager, Hogansville Craig Newton, Mayor, Norcross Nick Overstreet, City Manager, Vidalia Adele Schirmer, City Manager, Social Circle Jennifer Simpkins, City Manager, Fort Oglethorpe Gerald Smith, Mayor Pro Tem, Dublin Kenny Smith, City Manager, Griffin ChaQuias Thornton, City Manager, Stone Mountain Jim Triplett, City Clerk, Carrollton Ken Turner, Mayor, Gordon Fredda Wheeler, City Clerk, Toccoa Roxanne Whitaker, Mayor, Harlem Barbara Williams, Mayor, Fort Valley Hawnethia Williams, Councilmember, Covington Dan Wright, City Manager, Ringgold Kathy Young, Deputy Administrator, Fitzgerald

September/October 2019 | gacities.com 37

IS CHASING SUSPECTS

WORTH THE RISK?

BY NIKKI PERRY

On Aug. 18, Butts County deputies pursued a speeding driver for 10 miles, reaching up to 100 mph on Interstate 75.

THE CHASE BEGAN AS A TRAFFIC STOP BUT ended as an armed robbery arrest, after deputies discovered guns and cash in the vehicle that linked the driver and passenger. Afterward, the local sheriff announced that, based on this incident, his deputies will now chase any suspect who flees.

That scenario could have taken a completely different turn, like this one: An officer was patrolling the quiet streets of Winder at 4:40 a.m. when a car drove by with no headlights. He flipped on the blue lights, intending to give a friendly safety reminder, but the car sped away. After a short pursuit, the driver lost control in a curve and crashed into a utility pole. The officer ran to the vehicle and found a 14-year-old girl deceased behind the wheel of her father's car, which she had borrowed without permission.

The officer in this 2003 Georgia Supreme Court case was cleared of liability, because he followed “proper police procedures.” However, the court stated in this precedent-setting case that catching criminals is not the most important factor to consider when initiating a chase: ”...it is equally as important that innocent persons, whether or not connected with the emergency to be met, not be maimed or killed in the operation.”

That was 16 years ago, and yet it is still a subject of debate in Georgia, which has the seventh highest rate of pursuit-related deaths in the country at 4.1 deaths per 100,000 people, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. One-third of those deaths are innocent bystanders, said Dan Beck, director of Local Government Risk Management Services (LGRMS) that handles claims for ACCG and GMA.

“City managers and elected officials need to ask themselves, is chasing down bad guys within your city worth the death of one of your citizens or the life of one of your law enforcement officers,” Beck said.

Looking at neighboring states, the rate of violent crimes does not correlate with the rate of pursuit-related deaths. For example, Florida has a higher rate of violent crime but far fewer pursuit-related deaths. The difference comes down to state law and city policy.

Senate Bill 63, introduced this past February by Sen. Gail Davenport (D-Jonesboro) and five others, would have required all state and local agencies to adopt a policy that restricts pursuits to only the most serious crimes.

The bill never made it out of the hopper.

Most city police departments have adopted a pursuit policy, which is a requirement for state certification by the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police (GACP).

However, the policies are either too lax or not enforced, Beck said. Ignoring a policy or providing inadequate training is a greater liability than having no policy at all, he added.

GACP Executive Director Frank Rotondo said current law enforcement best practices limit the use of pursuits. In his 50-year career, he has seen chases decrease over the years as more urban agencies adopt restrictive policies. A chase in a highly populated area is more likely to injure or kill bystanders. When that happens, the community uproar can impact policy.

“Ultimately, the police respond to the wishes of the government officials and the wishes of the community,” Rotondo said.

Beck said that 10 percent of all LGRMS claims are pursuit related. Though infrequent, they come with a high price tag. When fatalities are involved, cities can quickly reach their policy limits, most of which are $1-2 million per claim. For example, a claim on Beck’s desk right now involves a fleeing criminal driver who struck a van, killing three people. That could have a significant financial impact on a city.

LaGrange Police Chief Louis Dekmar said that officers in the field and decision-makers at city hall have a difficult job of weighing the risk involved with pursuits.

“We have control over how the officer drives, but we have no control over the way the suspect drives. We can't guarantee the safety of any officer or citizen that may be in their path. That's something that law enforcement leaders are constantly struggling with,” Dekmar said. “But there are some crimes and some individuals that are such a danger to communities where pursuits are justified.”

Dekmar served on the GACP Ad Hoc Committee for Police Pursuits in 2006, which recommended policy considerations and the statewide collection of pursuit data. The LaGrange Police Department collects information about every pursuit, analyzes how policy was implemented and trains officers based on those results.

Lilburn Police Chief Bruce Hedley, who currently serves as GACP first vice president, also said that actively applying the policy to every pursuit is key to reducing risk on the road.

“Having a policy in place is one thing, but training on it and having officers buy into it is the other,” Hedley said. “When they get that tunnel vision, that's when it's difficult to get officers to follow the policy.”

It is recommended that a supervisor make the final decision to initiate or end a pursuit, Rotondo said. Even so, the most experienced captain can follow the policy to the letter and still face public scrutiny or a lawsuit.

“It will always be a profession that is second-guessed,” Rotondo said.

+ Georgia has one of the highest rates of pursuit-related deaths, one-third of which are innocent bystanders. + Pursuit-related incidents have a high price tag, making up 10 percent of all city-county insurance claims. + Law enforcement best practices and insurance experts recommend restricting pursuits to the most serious crimes. + Police chiefs encourage departments to train officers thoroughly, analyze each pursuit, and take corrective action to ensure that the policy is followed.

September/October 2019 | gacities.com 39

Nominate Your City Today!

GMA is partnering with Georgia Trend magazine to award the inaugural Visionary City Award to nine cities—three from each population size group: under 5,000; 5,000-24,999; and 25,000 and over.

THIS AWARD HONORS CITIES THAT HAVE created positive community change through effective civic engagement and collaboration. Cities are encouraged to submit nominations that foster healthy working relationships and make their communities places where people truly love to live and work.

The nomination form includes a short-answer portion, visual assets (pictures, infographics, videos) and up to three statements expressing the impact of the initiative/project from partners and/or residents outside of city staff and elected officials. Applicants may also send a one-page narrative. Award nominations are open and will close on Oct. 25.

To apply online visit www.gacities.com.

Contact Kelli Bennett with any questions at kbennett@gacities.com.

Award Criteria Preference is given to initiatives/projects that are measurable and judged on how well they demonstrate the following: • Civic Engagement • Inclusiveness and Equity • Collaboration • Innovation • Long-term Value to the Community

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Nomination Examples: Community Collaboration: Partnering with businesses, school systems, community groups and non-profits in the city to create mutual investments that decrease costs and/or improve performance Government Collaboration: Partnering with a city’s county, neighboring cities, state and federal partners and non-profits to create mutual investments that decrease costs and/or improve performance Structural Enhancements: The impact of a new facility or city amenity or historic reconstruction and preservation to influence civic engagement and collaboration Public Safety: Can include police, fire, rescue services, emergency planning and coordinated response, building code enforcement, jails, health and mental health initiatives/projects dedicated to engaging the community and fostering civic engagement Working with Youth: Can include civics education, pre-k-12 education, summer programs, parks and recreation and literacy programs Inclusion Opportunities: Intentionally creating a space for thoughtful discussion concerning topics relevant to civic health, community issues, public meetings, etc.

Overcoming Barriers to Participation in the 2020 Census Local officials know how important the 2020 Census is and that they play a vital role in ensuring a complete count in their communities.

THEY MAY ALSO KNOW THAT NO SINGLE AREA OR group of people is guaranteed to participate. In fact, the U.S. Census Bureau predicts a nationwide self-response rate of only 60.5 percent for next year’s count. This number suggests that there are significant barriers to participation, the most important of which are distrust in government, concerns about privacy and cybersecurity, and the presence of hard-to-count populations. Local governments can overcome these barriers by providing relevant and timely information to help their residents understand the process, build public trust and increase everyone’s willingness to participate.

The Pew Research Center has conducted polling on perceptions of government for more than 60 years and recently found that public trust in government remains near historic lows. There is a silver lining, however, as government appears to work better locally than nationally. In 2018, 67 percent of Americans had a favorable opinion of their local government (compared to 35 percent for the federal level). In other words, local officials still have opportunities to act as trusted voices when it comes to informing the public about the Census and advocating for increased participation.

The 2020 Census marks the first time that responses will be collected online. Coupled with frequent news about data breaches and ransomware attacks, this raises concerns for some people about privacy and cybersecurity. Local officials can address this barrier by pointing to U.S. Code Title 13, which prohibits Census employees from disclosing information that identifies an individual or business. Penalties for violating this law include a federal prison sentence of up to five years, a fine

of up to $250,000 or both. The U.S. Census Bureau is also partnering with Microsoft’s Defending Democracy Program to protect its computer systems from hacking, disinformation and misinformation.

Hard-to-count populations exist in different forms in every community. Generally identified by low response rates to the last Census, these overlapping groups can be further distinguished with the following descriptions in order to develop effective outreach and information campaigns: 1) HARD TO LOCATE: residents of housing units not captured by census efforts to collect residential addresses and/or anyone wanting to remain hidden.

2) HARD TO CONTACT: highly mobile populations and/or people experiencing homelessness as well as physical access barriers.

3) HARD TO PERSUADE: suspicious of government and/or displaying low civic engagement.

4) HARD TO INTERVIEW: individuals with language barriers, low literacy rates or lack of internet access.

Georgia’s cities can prepare for the 2020 Census and face the barriers outlined here with confidence.

Their knowledge of local conditions will allow them to identify and address specific populations, and they are not alone in their efforts to count everyone. The Census presents an ideal opportunity to cooperate with local and regional organizations including other governments, the non-profit sector or businesses. To learn more about partnerships and to access informational resources, visit GMA’s 2020 Census Toolkit at www.gacities.com/census.

September/October 2019 | gacities.com 41

TOWNS & THE LAW

Ransomware Cleanup:

Adopting a HIPAA Hybrid Entity Resolution Before the Attack

BY ALISON EARLES, ASSOCIATE GENERAL COUNSEL, GMA

The Aug. 16 ransomware cyberattack on 22 small cities in Texas is just the latest in a series of crippling ransomware attacks on local governments throughout the country.

THIS SHOWS THAT THESE attacks are not limited to large cities. Ransomware is malicious software that denies a user access to data by encrypting it and charging a ransom for the decryption key. At least eight cities and counties in Georgia have experienced ransomware attacks. By investing in a sound data backup solution and creating and testing a disaster recovery plan, a city can greatly reduce the costs of an attack by restoring data that was locked by the ransomware. Similarly, a city can reduce the legal compliance costs of a ransomware attack by adopting a HIPAA Hybrid Entity Designation Resolution.

If a city maintains Protected Health Information (PHI), as defined by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), a ransomware attack that encrypts this information must be treated as a HIPAA breach because “unauthorized individuals have taken possession or control of the information.”

Unless the city can demonstrate a low probability that the PHI was “compromised,” the city must provide legal notifications to all individuals whose information was encrypted, to the Department of Health and Human Services Officer for Civil Rights and in some cases to the media.

These notifications must be drafted and mailed in accordance with specific requirements. This process usually includes hiring outside counsel. In general, only 42

health plans (insurance companies that offer health, dental, vision and disease specific coverage and self-insured health, dental and vision plans) and healthcare providers that bill health plans electronically are subject to HIPAA. Under the HIPAA rules, an organization that has some components that are health plans or healthcare providers and some that are not may adopt a Hybrid Entity Designation that identifies its “health care components.” Once the Hybrid Entity Designation is adopted, only those health care components (and not the entire entity) are subject to HIPAA’s many legal obligations.

The rash of ransomware attacks provides another reason for a city to say, “Yes” to a Hybrid Entity Des­ ignation, because cities maintain many types of highly sensitive information that are not HIPAA PHI. For example, the following types of information used frequently by cities are not PHI: social security numbers for utility customers, results of background checks, employment information, drug testing reports on employees, medical information associated with 911 Services and medical information associated with emergency medical services and transport (where health insurance is not billed.) Conversely, if a city has an ambulance service or EMT service that bills health plans, that component of the city is a HIPAA “healthcare provider,” as is the portion of the city that administers self-insured health benefits.

A city’s customers expect the city to protect all sensitive information, regardless of whether it is HIPAA PHI. However, when a city is struggling to recover from a ransomware attack it can save valuable resources by

knowing right away whether the ransomware encrypted PHI and will necessitate a HIPAA breach analysis and possible mandatory notifications.

SERVICE

GovDeals Offers Useful and Unique Finds Typically, GovDeals auctions and sells ordinary items such as surplus vehicles, computers, office furniture and other equipment and assets.

Yet, the team at GovDeals can’t help but notice that some strange items occasionally find themselves on the service marketplace. Here are five that we recently noticed: + 23 Metal Letters: Just three letters short of the entire alphabet. But we trust you can me make this work! + Retro Defensive Driving Course Kit: In this driving course, texting doesn’t exist. Ah, the good old days! + Suitcase Full of Sunglasses: Sounds like the name of a hit song from the 1980s. Nonetheless, you’ll be able to serve your cities in style. + Large Box of Hats: Are you one of those city officials who wears a lot of hats? GovDeals has got you covered.

Literally. + Richmond St. Street Sign: Not much use unless you’ve got a street called Richmond St. Or, with a minimum bid of just $27, it may make more sense to rename an existing street to Richmond St.

If GovDeals can sell such peculiar things, they can definitely sell more ordinary surplus items. At no cost, GovDeals provides: + A large audience of focused, qualified buyers. These are experienced buyers looking for specific items. Buyers from all 50 states plus 26 countries use GovDeals to purchase items. Users’ reach is broad, and they start receiving bids immediately. + An online, automated system. The GovDeals automated bidding mechanism notes bids in real time and ends the auction at a specific time, without any human interaction or need to manually manage the auction process. + Fair market value research. GovDeals helps make sure users aren’t underpricing or overpricing items. + Free marketing. GovDeals markets and advertises its auctions throughout the United States and around the world through a variety of online and print media.

Cities can use GovDeals at any time without worrying about upfront costs or annual fees.

For more information about this service, please reach out to kbennett@gacities.com.

September/October 2019 | gacities.com 43

DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENTS

Georgia Placemaking Program Launched The Georgia Placemaking Collaborative conducted its Fall 2019 Retreat and official program launch on Aug. 14-15 in LaGrange.

THE FRESHMEN CITIES OF ALBANY, CANTON and Millen joined the sophomore cities of Bainbridge, Gainesville and Greensboro as participants in the collaborative. The retreat included presentations from several nationally renowned speakers including Ed McMahon with the Urban Land Institute and Cynthia Nikitin, with the Project for Public Spaces, as well as facilitated work sessions.

The Georgia Placemaking Collaborative is a threeyear program designed to assist participating communities in identifying their unique assets to develop strategies and outcomes centered around quality of life and economic sustainability. Each year of the collaborative teams’ journey is themed to provide a synthesized process for identifying and accomplishing community goals. The first year is focused on placemaking education, community vision and planning. The second year’s themes are placemaking project development, funding and implementation. The third year and impact analysis.

The collaborative is sponsored by GMA, the Georgia Cities Foundation, the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government, the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, the Georgia Conservancy and Georgia Power. Applications for the 2020 Collaborative teams will be available this October.

For more information about the Georgia Placemaking Collaborative, please contact Stephanie Aylworth at saylworth@gacities.com or visit www.georgiacitiesfoundation.org.

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Downtown Leaders Gather for Training & Awards The 2019 Georgia Downtown Conference marked the 20th Anniversary of the Georgia Downtown Association. More than 150 Downtown Development Professionals attended the conference at Jekyll Island from Aug. 28-30.

Attendees heard from keynote speaker Steve Dennis and also enjoyed learning opportunities in more than a dozen concurrent workshops, a roundtable session with nine different topics and four mobile workshops that spotlighted the redevelopment of Jekyll Island and the redeveloped Downtown Brunswick.

BEST FAÇADE REHAB The Jones Mercantile Building, Canton The First National Bank, Cartersville BEST PLACEMAKING The Library Crosswalk, Braselton The Creative District, Thomasville BEST PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT PROJECT The Annex/Hancock Branch of the Library, Milledgeville BEST ADAPTIVE REUSE OF A BUILDING UNDER 10,000 SQUARE FEET The Union Bus Terminal – Chuck’s Fish, Athens

During the awards and 20th anniversary dinner, many Downtown Development Authorities were recognized for downtown excellence in the areas of design, economic development, organization and promotion. In addition, 12 of the 18 past presidents were in attendance and recognized during the 20th Anniversary Celebration.

BEST ADAPTIVE REUSE OF A BUILDING OVER 10,000 SQUARE FEET The Southern Salvage Buildings – Coleman Talley, Valdosta OUTSTANDING COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION, DOWNTOWN OF THE YEAR City of Monroe BEST CREATIVE FUNDRAISING The Polar Express, Milledgeville MAIN STREET HERO Matt Ruppel, Braselton PREMIER PARTNER The African American Heritage Trail, Cartersville

GDA Past Presidents

BEST CREATIVE NEW EVENT Farm to Table Dinner, Monroe OUTSTANDING PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN West Jackson Streetscape, Thomasville PREMIER SPECIAL EVENT Food Truck Friday, Perry THREE DOWNTOWN PROFESSIONALS WERE AWARDED THEIR GEORGIA DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL DESIGNATIONS: Jessie Owensby, Cornelia Haley Watson, Gray Tara Bradshaw, Georgia Department of Community Affairs

FEDERAL FOCUS

NEED TO KNOW

Exploring the FCC Cable Order On Aug. 1, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted 3-2 to approve a report and order that will make dramatic changes to cable franchises managed by state and local governments.

The order, which went into effect on Sept. 26, has two major components that will impact local governments.

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THE FIRST ADDRESSES “IN-KIND” COMPONENTS of franchise agreements and their relationship to franchise fees, and the second addresses regulation of “mixed use” networks by state and local franchising authorities.

The order is likely to reduce franchise revenues at the state and local level and wholly preempt state and local authority over the growing broadband and wireless services being provided by cable companies. The FCC claimed this order was done to expand broadband access but provided no requirement or assurance from cable companies that reduced franchise obligations would reduce costs for consumers or increase broadband deployment in underserved areas.

IN-KIND CHANGES Franchise fees, charged by state or local governments on cable providers, were set at a limit of up to five percent of cable revenues by the Cable Act of 1984. Many jurisdictions also negotiate additional noncash provisions when creating franchise agreements with cable companies to operate in their state or locality. For example, many Americans have broadband access via cable because of build-out obligations negotiated in franchise agreements years ago that ensured cable infrastructure was built in their neighborhoods.

When the order goes into effect, cable providers will be able to deduct the “fair market value” of any in-kind franchise obligations from their cash franchise payments. This includes any obligation other than build-out requirements, customer service requirements, PEG capital costs or channel placement value.

This also includes the value of service or infrastructure to government buildings or schools, discounted service for seniors or low-income households or institutional networks (I-Nets).

MIXED-USE CHANGES The order contains a “mixed-use” provision that preempts state and local authority over non-cable service and infrastructure on cable networks. An increasing number of residents get broadband service from

their community’s incumbent cable provider. Federal data indicates that a rising number of residents are “cutting the cord,” and dropping their cable television subscriptions in favor of broadband-only subscriptions and over-the-top streaming video. In addition, some cable providers are augmenting existing wired cable service with wireless service built from a base of their cable infrastructure.

The order ensures that state and local governments are unable to regulate these broadband services and infrastructure and may not create franchise agreements for those services in the future. This exempts a major and growing portion of the communications market from any state or local oversight and from being obligated to contribute to the community in the way that cable companies traditionally have.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS? City officials should gain an understanding of their current franchise agreements and what in-kind provisions are currently included within those agreements. In Georgia, nearly every cable company provides cable services via cable franchises granted by the state, rather than the local level, and any payments localities receive from those franchise agreements will be impacted. Cities will lose all free cable service provided to schools, libraries and public buildings, and cable companies will be able to charge for the transport of PEG channels and the provision of I-Nets.

For more information on how this Order could impact your city, contact Greg or Ryan Fender at 706-482-9933 or rgfender@windstream.net.

Portions of this article were adapted from a piece published by the National League of Cities, written by Angelina Panettieri, Principal Associate for Technology and Communication.

September/October 2019 | gacities.com 47

CITYLITES

Fairs and Festivals October 3-13 Country Fair & Festival Cumming

October 5-6 Indian Summer Festival Blairsville

October 13 Mule Camp Market Festival Gainesville

Georgia National Fair Perry

Suwanee Fine Arts Festival Suwanee

Fall Festival Royston

October 4 Oktoberfest Newnan

Shady Days in Gay Arts & Crafts Festival Gay

October 13-31 Hay Days St. Marys

October 4-6 Great Locomotive Chase Festival Adairsville Autumn Leaf Festival Maysville October 5 Oktoberfest Stone Mountain 25th Annual Friendship Festival Social Circle Autumn Fest Holly Springs Oktoberfest Lawrenceville Rock Shrimp Festival & Parade St. Marys Founders Day Festival Tyrone A Taste of Villa Rica Villa Rica

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Pine Lake Fest Pine Lake Art Splash & Wine Festival Norcross October 7 Taste of Eatonton Eatonton

October 17 Alive Roswell October 18-20 Fall Festival Hoschton

Wine Festival Roswell

October 19 Oktoberfest Perry

October 10-13 Pirate Fest Tybee Island

PAWfest Lawrenceville

October 11-12 The Real Squeal BBQ & Music Festival Lyons

LocalMotion Arts Festival Hapeville Autumn Festival Forest Park

October 12 4th Annual Fiddlin’ Fest Rome

Annual Concord Country Jubilee Concord

Lilburn Daze Arts & Crafts Festival Lilburn

Autumn Fest in Loganville Loganville Snellville Fall Festival Snellville

October 19-20 Historic Fair Andersonville Hogansville Hummingbird Festival Hogansville October 24 Fall Festival Grantville October 25 Lawrenceville Boo Fest Lawrenceville

Poppy Festival Good Hope 16th Annual Arch Fest Jesup October 31 Halloween On The Square Adairsville November 1 A Day for Statesboro Statesboro

November 23 Catfish Festival Kingsland Tree Lighting Lilburn November 28 Christmas Parade & Tree Lighting Grantville Christmas Tree Lighting Lawrenceville

November 1-2 Summerville Renaissance Festival Summerville

November 29 Lighting of the Square and Tree Dahlonega

Scare on the Square Statesboro

November 2 Granite City Fall Festival Elberton

Dublin Christkindlmarket Dublin

Downtown Chili Cook-off & Fall Festival Madison

Chicken Livers and Gizzards Festival Broxton, Georgia

Spooktacular in the Park Ball Ground

November 9 Springfield Fall Festival Springfield

October 26 HartOber Fest Hartwell

Chili Cookoff & Fall Festival Madison The Great Pumpkin Festival Fayetteville Deep Roots Festival Milledgeville AuburnFest Auburn

November 30 Swine Time Festival Climax Lighted Christmas Parade Snellville

November 13-December 7 Festival of Trees Helen November 16 Sugar Cane Festival Twin City November 19 Holidays in Hapeville Hapeville

To place a free Fairs & Festival listing contact gacities@gacities.com.

Please submit listings at least eight to ten weeks ahead of publication date.

September/October 2019 | gacities.com 49

GEORGIA GEMS The Georgia Rural Telephone Museum in the City of Leslie HAVE SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT? VISIT THE Georgia Rural Telephone Museum in the city of Leslie.

According to museum leaders and curators, this museum is home to the largest collection of antique telephones and telephone memorabilia in the world.

Museum CEO Tommy C. Smith dedicated the museum to those “who worked so hard and so long to give us the greatest communication system in the world and to honor those who continue to work on new and innovative ideas for the future of communication.”

The museum hosts a wide array of exhibits outside of telephones including the recreation of a Creek Indian Village, connecting the communications of the past with the present; artwork; vehicles dating from the early 1900's; Telstar, the first communication satellite; and several antique clocks.

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Visitors to the Georgia Rural Telephone Museum have enjoyed their trip through the history of communications and expanding their understanding on telephony, leaving several reviews.

Brandon from Florida encouraged all to incorporate a visit to the museum into their next trip, “It has so many articles from the past to the present communications industry—well displayed and fun to see.”

Another Trip Advisor reviewer praised the museum’s access and variety, “We were immediately consumed with history, quantity, quality and how does one amass this many historic telephones, automobiles and Indian artifacts,” they wrote. “It is an incredible collection!”

The museum is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.3:30 p.m. Call 229-874-4786 for more information.

RECOVERY SERVICES

RECOVERY SERVICES A New Service of the Georgia Municipal Association STATS

BRIEF HISTORY

Peachtree Recovery Services (PRS) started in 2015 and is headquartered in Suwanee, GA. PRS was created by insurance professionals and engineers in an effort to develop a monthly Peachtree Recovery Services (PRS) started in 2015 revenue stream for cities and counties that is costand is headquartered in Suwanee, GA. PRS was free and effort-free. PRS is currently serving clients created by insurance professionals and in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Indiana.

Startup Costs:

BRIEF HISTORY

engineers in an effort to develop a monthly revenue stream for cities and counties that is costFACTORS RESULTS free and effort-free. PRS is currently serving clients key factors in monitors Alabama,traffic Georgia, North and Carolina andThree Indiana.

PRS constantly accidents

impact the recovery of funds:

files claims as they are identified, ensuring a fast return to the client.

RESULTS

The charts below show the growth of the revenue created for each city.

• Asset Allocation • Uninsured PRS constantly monitors traffic accidents and • Hit-and-runs

2000 Accidents files claims as theyper areYear identified, ensuring a fast return to the client.

$150,000.00 $100,000.00

BARRIERS The charts below show the growth of the revenue Valdosta created for each city.

Cities face two

$50,000.00 $1

3

5

7

barriers to high Months 2000 Accidents perrecoveries: Year

9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27

$150,000.00

$600,000.00

$100,000.00

$400,000.00

$50,000.00

• Decentralized process

30,000 Accidents per Year

$200,000.00

Atlanta

$-

$1

2

3

Valdosta • Too few resources

41 53

56 7 7 9 811 13 9 15 10 17 19 21 23 25 27

Months

Months

$0

STATS

Cancellation Costs:

Startup Costs:

$0

$0

Avg Time to 1st Payment:

Cancellation Costs:

2 months

$0

Avg Claim Value in GA:

Avg Time to 1st Payment:

$2450 $2450 FACTORS

Avg key Daysfactors to Recovery: Three impact the34 recovery of funds: Avg Increase in • Asset Allocation Quantity of Claims Filed: • Uninsured

• Hit-and-runs 94.5%

2 months

Avg Claim Value in GA:

$2450 $2450

Avg Days to Recovery:

34

Avg Percentage Recovered of Invoiced Amount:

BARRIERS

Avg Increase in Quantity of Claims Filed:

Cities face two 98.83% barriers to high recoveries:

94.5%

$600,000.00 What to Expect • Decentralized OTHER RECOVERIES 30,000 Accidents perAccidents Year Per Year process $400,000.00 AvgMonthly Recovery

Here are a few more examples of recovery values (to date).

Up to 2000 $3,041.70 • Too few resources $200,000.00 2000 to 5000 $3,703.64 Dunwoody $14,000+ (new) Other States: 5000 to 7500 $6,726.52 Marietta $180,000+ $City in NC $262,000+ $7,933.16 1City in 2 AL $226,000+ 3 4 5 6 7 7500 8 to 10000 9 10 Columbus $248,000+ > 10000 $26,977.51 Months Calhoun $110,000+

Avg Percentage Recovered of Invoiced Amount:

Atlanta

Darin Jenkins OTHER RECOVERIES Phone: 678-686-6264

What to Expect

Todd Rhoad Phone: 678-230-7594 Accidents Per Year Email: djenkins@gmanet.com Email: todd.rhoad@peachtreers.com Here are a few more examples of recovery values (to date).

Up to 2000 2000 to 5000 Dunwoody $14,000+ (new) Other States: 5000 to 7500 Marietta $180,000+ City in NC $262,000+ 7500 to 10000 Columbus $248,000+ City in AL $226,000+ > 10000 Calhoun $110,000+

For More Information: www.gmanet.com/Services

For More Information: www.gmanet.com/Services

Darin Jenkins Phone: 678-686-6264 Email: djenkins@gmanet.com Darin Jenkins

For more information: www.gacities.com/services

98.83%

AvgMonthly Recovery $3,041.70 $3,703.64 $6,726.52 $7,933.16 $26,977.51

Todd Rhoad Phone: 678-230-7594 Email: todd.rhoad@peachtreers.com Todd Rhoad

678-686-6264 djenkins@gacities.com

678-230-7594 todd.rhoad@peachtreers.com

201 Pryor Street, SW Atlanta, Georgia 30303

2019

PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ATLANTA, GA PERMIT NO. 1959

GMA began the Mayors’ Christmas Motorcade in 1959 at the request of Betty Vandiver, wife of then-Governor Ernest Vandiver, as a way of providing holiday gifts for the patients of Georgia’s mental health hospitals. Originally established to provide gifts to clients at Central State Hospital in Milledgeville, the program was expanded in the 1980’s to support state regional hospitals.

Without the Mayors’ Christmas Motorcade, many of the clients would not receive a gift for the holidays. The Christmas spirit demonstrated by cities during the Motorcade extends beyond the holiday season. Any gifts not handed out during Christmas are used for client birthdays or given to newly arrived clients, who may need basic items. In this way, cities help the hospitals celebrate special occasions year-round and help the hospitals meet the needs of their clients.

CENTRAL STATE HOSPITAL, MILLEDGEVILLE | DECEMBER 3, 2019

WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA HOSPITAL, COLUMBUS | DECEMBER 5, 2019

EAST CENTRAL REGIONAL HOSPITAL, AUGUSTA | DECEMBER 12, 2019

+ Program 1:30 p.m.

+ Program & Refreshments,

+ Presentation of gifts, 9 a.m.

Statewide Chair: Mayor Julie Smith, Tifton

1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Chair: Mayor Randy Toms, Warner Robins

GEORGIA REGIONAL HOSPITAL, SAVANNAH | DECEMBER 4, 2019 + Parade line up, 8:30 a.m.

(National Guard Armory 1222 Eisenhower Drive, Savannah, GA 31406) + Parade, 9:15 a.m.; Breakfast following parade 10:00 a.m. + Program at 11:00 a.m.

Chair: Mayor Ed Boyd, Metter

+ Program, 10 a.m.

Chair: Mayor Greg Carswell, Waynesboro

GEORGIA REGIONAL HOSPITAL, ATLANTA | DECEMBER 11, 2019

"The Mayors’ Motorcade

+ Parade line up, 9:30 a.m.

city officials to share the

+ Parade, 10 a.m. + Holiday Program & Lite Refreshments, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Chair: Mayor Clark Boddie, Palmetto

is a great way for our joy and hope of Christmas with some of those who are in great need but are often forgotten. I hope that all cities will participate in this meaningful program."

MAYOR JULIE SMITH, Tifton, Statewide Chair