SPECIAL OPERATIONS DIVISION
The Special Operations Division falls under the command of the Operations Bureau and consists of the School Resource Officer Section, Community Outreach Section, and Crisis Intervention Team. The S.R.O. Section provides deputies to Seasonal Units during non-school days, such as the Marine Patrol Unit and the Bike Patrol Unit. The Community Outreach Section consists of the Community Relations Unit, Reserve Deputy Program, Volunteer Unit, and Incident Response Team.
SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS
The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office School Resource Officer Unit falls under the Operations Bureau. The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office is committed to working closely with the Forsyth County Board of Education and School Safety Department to maximize the safety of our most valuable treasure, our youth.
Sheriff Freeman and the Board of Education have developed a plan to staff a minimum of one SRO at each public school campus in Forsyth County. School resource officers protect over 54,000 students, plus staff, within 43 school campuses. The SRO deputies provide direct services to the schools; which include campus safety inspections, classroom presentations, criminal investigations, student and parent conferences, along with a variety of other activities including traditional law enforcement duties and security.
SCHOOL SAFETY TASK FORCE
In early 2018, Forsyth County Schools Superintendent Dr. Bearden and Forsyth County Sheriff Freeman announced that they were commissioning a School Safety Task Force with the objective of completing a comprehensive safety assessment of all Forsyth County school campuses and review of possible security improvements. The task force is led by the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office’s Major Perkins and includes additional FCSO Deputies, staff from Forsyth County Schools, as well as representatives from the Forsyth County Fire Department and Forsyth County Emergency Management Agency.
Upon the inception of the School Safety Task Force, they took several weeks to complete a review of existing policies and conducted physical surveys of all Forsyth County public school campuses. They engaged the community on ideas and concerns as they reviewed security needs. The task force prepared a thorough report of their findings and recommended potential safety improvements. This report was presented to both Sheriff Freeman and Dr. Bearden, thus aiding decisions made on what steps can be taken to further ensure the safety of our children and school staff. The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office is committed to securing the safety of our schools and will continue to have enhanced presence on all campuses.
If you have questions or are interested in learning more about the School Resource Officer Program, please contact:
Lieutenant Noah Sprague at NTSprague@forsythco.com
SEASONAL UNITS
From Memorial Day through Labor Day, our Marine & Bike Units come together to patrol Lake Lanier and the Big Creek Greenway. These two units are made up primarily of our School Resource Officers & volunteers since school is out for the summer. Though these are the two main places they patrol, these two units are available to patrol other areas if needed, year-round.
MARINE PATROL
Our Marine Unit consists of two Edgewater center console patrol boats. Marine 1 is a 2014 Edgewater 268 (27ft) center console, powered by twin Yamaha 250 outboard motors. Marine 2 is a 2015 Edgewater 238 (24ft) center console, powered by a single Yamaha 250 outboard motor. Each boat is manned by two deputies at all times, that work Marine Patrol full-time, from Memorial Day through Labor Day. However, these deputies are on-call for lake emergencies 24hrs a day, year-round.
Lake Lanier encompasses 38,000 acres (59 square miles) of water, and 690 miles of shoreline. 30% of that shoreline (just over 200 miles) is shoreline of Forsyth County. The Marine Unit's primary tasks are making sure lake-goers are being responsible and obeying the law while on the lake, as well as making their presence known to respond quickly should an emergency arise.
BIKE PATROL
The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office School Resource Officer Unit falls under the Operations Bureau. The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office is committed to working closely with the Forsyth County Board of Education and School Safety Department to maximize the safety of our most valuable treasure, our youth.
Sheriff Freeman and the Board of Education have developed a plan to staff a minimum of one SRO at each public school campus in Forsyth County. School resource officers protect over 54,000 students, plus staff, within 43 school campuses. The SRO deputies provide direct services to the schools; which include campus safety inspections, classroom presentations, criminal investigations, student and parent conferences, along with a variety of other activities including traditional law enforcement duties and security.