Welcome to the August edition of the PENS Bulletin brought to you by the Cobb County Police Criminal Investigations Unit at Precinct Two.

Public Safety Topic(s) of the Month

Transportation Safety

Whether children walk, ride their bicycle or take the bus to school, it is extremely important that they take proper safety precautions. Here are some tips to make sure your child safely travels to school:

Walkers

Review your family's walking safety rules and practice walking to school with your child.

• Walk on the sidewalk, if one is available; when on a street with no sidewalk, walk facing the traffic.
• Before you cross the street, stop and look left, right and left again to see if cars are coming.
• Make eye contact with drivers before crossing and always cross streets at crosswalks or intersections.
• Stay alert and avoid distracted walking.

Read more about pedestrian safety and distracted walking at the National Safety Council's website.

Bike Riders

Teach your child the rules of the road and practice riding the bike route to school with your child.

• Ride on the right side of the road, with traffic, and in a single file.
• Come to a complete stop before crossing the street; walk bikes across the street.
• Stay alert and avoid distracted riding.
• Make sure your child always wears a properly fitted helmet and bright clothing.

Read more about bike safety at the National Safety Council's website.

Bus Riders

Teach your children school bus safety rules and practice with them.

• Go to the bus stop with your child to teach them the proper way to get on and off the bus.
• Teach your children to stand 6 feet (or three giant steps) away from the curb.
• If your child must cross the street in front of the bus, teach him or her to walk on the side of the road until they are 10 feet ahead of the bus; your child and the bus driver should always be able to see each other.
• Get the facts and statistics on bus safety from Injury Facts.

Read more about school bus safety at the National Safety Council's website.

Driving Your Child to School

Stay alert and avoid distracted driving.

• Obey school zone speed limits and follow your school's drop-off procedure.
• Make eye contact with children who are crossing the street.
• Never pass a bus loading or unloading children.
• The area 10 feet around a school bus is the most dangerous for children; stop far enough back to allow them to safely enter and exit the bus.

Read more about school safety while driving at the National Safety Council's website.

Teen Drivers

Car crashes are the No. 1 cause of death for teens. Fortunately, there is something we can do.

• Teens crash because they are inexperienced; practice with new drivers every week, before and after they get their license.
• Set a good example; drive the way you want your teen to drive.
• Sign the New Driver Deal, an agreement that helps define expectations for parents and teens.

Read more about teen driving safety at the National Safety Council's website.

School Safety

Many School-related injuries are completely preventable. Follow these steps to ensure your child's safety at school.

Backpacks

Choose a backpack for your child carefully; it should have ergonomically designed features to enhance safety and comfort.

• Ask your children to use both straps when wearing their backpack to evenly distribute the weight on their shoulders.
• Don't over-stuff a backpack; it should weigh no more than 5% to 10% of your child's body weight.
• Rolling backpacks should be used cautiously since they can create a trip hazard in crowded school hallways.

Read more about backpack safety at the National Safety Council's website.

Playgrounds and Sports

• To reduce strangulation hazards on playgrounds, have your child leave necklaces and jackets with drawstrings at home.
• A few bumps and bruises can be expected when your child plays sports, but head injuries should never be ignored.

Read more about playground safety at the National Safety Council's website.

Cobb County Camera Registry

The Cobb County Police Camera Registration program is a police/community video partnership that operates on a voluntary basis with homeowners, neighborhoods and business owners who own private video surveillance systems. We encourage both businesses and residents to register their cameras online by completing the form below.

This program is intended to let our officers know where cameras are active in the county in case a crime occurs. It is not intended for active surveillance, and officers will not have direct access to homeowners' cameras. Those who register a camera will be contacted if a crime occurs in the vicinity of that camera. Information provided by residents and businesses will be maintained in a secure database.

Fill out our Online Registration Form and find out more about the program.

Your Heroes at Work

Stolen Vehicle / Subject in Custody

On July 14, 2019, Precinct 2 officers received notification of a stolen vehicle in the area of Riverside Pkwy near Factory Shoals. Units responded to the area to look for the stolen vehicle. Officer Massol spotted the vehicle heading west on Riverside Pkwy near Factory Shoals. Officer Massol was traveling east bound and conducted a U Turn. As soon as Officer Massol turned around on the stolen vehicle it took off at a high rate of speed and Officer Massol lost sight of the vehicle. A short time later radio dispatch advised that a vehicle had wrecked into some trees at Blair Bridge Road and Riverside Pkwy. It was quickly realized that this was the stolen vehicle and officers descended upon the area. A perimeter was set up and Douglasville SO K9 responded to assist in a track. Officers and the K9 began a track and tracked the subject to Ling Way. CIU 2 Detective Johnson who assisted with the perimeter spotted the subject on Ling Way at Grinder Drive. Units descended upon the scene and the subject was taken into custody without incident. A phenomenal job was done by all involved.

License Plate Readers

The Vinings Plantation HOA LPR camera alerted to a stolen vehicle in the neighborhood. Before additional units could arrive on scene, the initial responding unit observed the vehicle leave the complex. A stop was attempted and the vehicle fled toward Smyrna on Oakdale Road. Other jurisdictions were notified. The HOA LPR camera helped them avoid a burglary or entering auto’s.

Entering Auto

On August 8, 2019 at 5:57 p.m., Precinct 2 officers were dispatched to a gas station on Veterans Memorial Hwy regarding a slider theft where a woman's purse was stolen from her vehicle as she pumped gas. Officers began checking the area. At 6:42 p.m. (actually occurred at 6:15 p.m.; delayed due to language barrier), officers were dispatched to another gas station on Veterans Memorial Hwy regarding another slider theft where a purse was taken, again while the female driver was pumping gas. The suspect vehicle was described as a white Audi Q5 which was stolen out of DeKalb County earlier this date. There were three suspects reported to be in the vehicle, the suspect entering the vehicles was wearing rubber gloves. Surrounding jurisdictions were notified.

**Update** The above suspects were located and taken into custody the following day.

Person Armed / Battery / Criminal Trespass

On August 3, 2019 at 10:10 p.m., officers were dispatched to a residence in response to a report of a woman walking up and down the street yelling while holding a knife. Officers arrived to see the woman standing in the driveway holding a knife. The woman wouldn’t speak or respond to any verbal commands. When Officer Lincoln displayed the less lethal shotgun, she tossed the knife away under a van, but still within reach of the subject. The Officers formed a contact team and approached her while an officer held her attention form the other side with her mother talking to her. She was safely taken into custody and subsequently charged with D.V. Battery against her mother, and D.V. Criminal Trespass. The officers need to be commended for their calm demeanor while dealing with the situation.

This is only a few of examples that demonstrates the hard work and professionalism exhibited by the officers of Precinct 2 on a daily basis.

Community Affairs Officers for Precinct 2

Officer Cole and Officer Conwell are assigned as the Community Affairs officers serving the community in Precinct 2. Effective August 25, Officer Conwell will be transferred to the Crimes Against Person Unit. Officer Hill will be replacing Conwell at the position. Good luck to both officers in their new endeavors.

The Community Affairs Unit seeks to effectively engage the community and citizens to strengthen Public Safety and community partnerships, facilitate a joint effort in solving problems which affect our community, and foster enhanced trust, communication, transparency, and mutual respect.

Officers help foster a strong working relationship between the Department and the community it serves. Officers work with homeowners associations, community organizations, advocacy groups, public and private schools, faith-based organizations, and individual residents to promote partnerships that are mutually beneficial.

As a result of these working partnerships, the officers are able to develop pro-active crime fighting projects that are jointly undertaken by Department personnel and citizens.

If you have a concern effecting your area or would like more information regarding this unit, please contact Officer Cole, Conwell, or Hill.

Officers Cole and Conwell can be reached via email at Rivion.cole@cobbcounty.org and James.Conwell@cobbcounty.org. Officer Hill may be reached at Michael.Hill@cobbcounty.org.

Stay up to Date with Critical Information

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Cobb Department of Public Safety staff is working to enhance the delivery of near real-time information to residents about incidents that may have significant and/or imminent impacts on their safety or welfare. DPS has implemented the SwiftReach Swift911 notification system to distribute these types of alerts.

SwiftReach is a high-speed emergency notification system that alerts residents to emergency situations including severe weather, missing and endangered persons or significant road closures due to fatality accidents or other unplanned incidents in the local area. The program has the capability of delivering pre-recorded messages to the entire county via telephone, cell phone, email and text messaging. The system uses a publicly-available list of phone numbers that can be removed or updated by both residents and businesses.

There are two simple options to opt-in and provide contact information for this service. Sign up on for the service online. Residents can also get the Swift911 Mobile App by texting the word “Swift911” to “99538.” The response text will be a link for the Swift 911 app in the app store. SwiftReach is another example of using current technology to ensure residents receive vital information from the Department of Public Safety.

Police Athletic League

Cobb PAL focuses on juvenile crime prevention through athletic and recreational activities for Cobb County’s high-risk neighborhoods, primarily in South Cobb. There are many ways that you can help, whether it be spreading the word, getting your children involved, volunteering your time and resources or donating money. If you wish to assist this worthwhile program and make a donation, visit Ways to Help.

Cobb PAL 5th Annual Baseball Camp

It's that time again! Join us for Cobb PAL's 5th Annual Baseball Camp that will take place at Clarksdale Park! 

When: August 27 for children 4-10 years old and August 28 for children 11-17 years old

Time: 6:00 p.m - 8:30 p.m

Where:

Clarksdale Park
4905 Austell Powder Springs Road
Austell, GA 30106

Make sure you register online!

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If you have any questions or concerns feel free to contact us at Precinct2Pens@cobbcounty.org

Thank you for your participation.

Lieutenant M.T. Brown - Precinct 2 Criminal Investigations Unit
Sergeant M. Nerbonne - Precinct 2 Criminal Investigations Unit (Day) 
Sergeant K. Clausen - Precinct 2 Criminal Investigations Unit (Evenings)