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Cafe serves gyros, hummus RESTAURANTS 22

JAN. 9 — JAN. 22, 2015 • VOL. 6 — NO. 1

Remembering her smile Alzheimer’s brings new chapter in couple’s life

PAGES 9-20

Dunwoody police to start wearing bodymounted cameras soon BY ELLEN ELDRIDGE

elleneldridge@reporternewspapers.net

as much or more as loved ones forget who their caretakers are. “I’m convinced that for many of them, and especially for her, she has dementia of the mind, but not the heart,” Gene said. Gene and Kay have been married for 56 years and lived in Dunwoody for the previous 44. He had been taking care of Kay since she started showing symptoms of Alzheimer’s, in 2008. On Mondays, he took her to the Happy Hearts program at

Some police officers’ dashboard cameras start recording when the blue lights begin flashing. Soon, additional cameras may begin recording interactions between police officers and residents in Atlanta and Dunwoody. In about three months, local police officials say, officers in those two local communities will start wearing cameras mounted on their uniforms. Brookhaven police also are looking into using body cameras and say they are currently testing different models. And a state lawmaker has introduced proposed legislation requiring all police officers to wear the cameras. The national controversy arising from police-involved deaths in Ferguson, Mo., and New York City have left both police officers and their critics calling for more objective evidence of behavior during confrontations between officers and residents. Body-mounted cameras have been promoted as one possible solution. Atlanta’s Deputy Chief C.J. Davis said the on-body cameras, which are expected to cost millions of dollars for equipment and storage, are worth the expense. Both officers and citizens behave better when they know someone is watching. “People have a tendency to alter their behavior in a positive way when they know they’re being recorded,” Davis said. But not every local agency agrees with the use of cameras mounted on officers. Sandy Springs says no to on-body cameras, at least for now, department spokesman Capt. Steve Rose said. “The privacy issues are a huge consideration by those whose agenda calls for mandating body cameras,” Rose said. “What is

SEE DEMENTIA, PAGE 4

SEE SOME LOCAL, PAGE 27

ELLEN ELDRIDGE

Gene Vezina shows off a poem he wrote to his wife Kay on their wedding day 56 years ago. Now she’s in an assisted living home and he’s found new support working at a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Dunwoody.

BY ELLEN ELDRIDGE

elleneldridge@reporternewspapers.net

Last spring, Gene Vezina sat down to eat a chicken biscuit at the Dunwoody Chick-fil-A just like he and his wife had done many times before. Only this time, his wife, Kay, wasn’t with him. She had recently moved into an assisted living facility where professionals could tend to her worsening Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States. The number of people affected is growing, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, but the families sometimes suffer

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