Varnell police place first in challenge division

By Kim Sloan
Dalton Daily Citizen

September 27, 2008 10:02 pm

— The Varnell Police Department received first place in the Governor’s Challenge Award in its division in the first year the department entered the challenge.
The Dalton Police Department received second place in its division, the seventh time in the last eight years it has finished second.
The Governor’s Challenge is a program of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) that recognizes outstanding achievements in highway safety enforcement and education in agencies throughout the state. The agencies are judged on both the approach and effectiveness of their highway safety programs. This includes their enforcement of traffic and DUI laws, community education efforts, media events, and policies and procedures. All law enforcement agencies are eligible to participate.
The Varnell Police Department received $4,000 for law enforcement equipment for being the top department in Class 1, departments of from one to 10 officers.
“We don’t know what we are going to do with it yet,” Police Chief Lyle Grant said of the money.
The Dalton Police Department was named second place for Class 4, a department of from 50 to 100 officers. The governor’s office has not released a full list of winners.
“We have placed second seven of the last eight years and third in the other,” said Officer Steve Zahn of the department’s Traffic Enforcement Unit. “We are the only agency in the state that has accomplished that goal.”
The Dalton Police Department also received a grant to purchase equipment.
“The equipment that we have received in previous years has been Alco Sensors (tests drivers for DUI), radar units (for speed detection), laser (for speed detection) and assorted signs and lights used for road checks,” Zahn said.
The awards were given out at the Challenge Awards Luncheon on Sept. 19 at the Georgia National Fairgrounds in Perry.

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