At approximately 9:09 am Wednesday October 21, 2009 a black male wearing all black entered the Charter Bank on Carriage Oaks Drive brandishing a handgun. He forced the employees into the vault after having the teller empty her drawer into a garbage bag.

Representatives from Fayette law enforcement agencies, DA Scott Ballard, and Fayette County School officials are offering a free community awareness seminar on October 27th at 7 pm at McIntosh High School. The panel will discuss various pertinent topics to include the “Romeo and Juliet” law, drug and alcohol issues, Minor in Possession (MIP) and how it affects teens and their records, legal age of becoming an adult and texting while driving. A Q & A session will follow these discussions.

The Georgia Municipal Association included the TPD and our use of Nixle in an article featured in the October edition of their Georgia Cities Newspaper. The article is entitled "Being Friends with Online Followers Can be Tweet" and is available for review here:

http://www.gmanet.com/Paper.aspx?CNID=43004

We reported last week that the FBI had released their 2008 Crime in the United States Report, which is a compilation of Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) data from nearly every agency across the nation. The attached document contains the data we reported to the FBI in 2008 as well as data from other similar sized jurisdictions and other South Metro Atlanta cities. This data is provided to give an overview of crime in Tyrone and other agencies and is not meant to serve as a ranking - you will see in the report that the FBI urges caution in using this data for that purpose.

Citizens and Business Owners:

The Tyrone Police Department is organizing its third annual “Shop with a Cop” holiday program, designed to help underprivileged families purchase gifts and food items so that they might enjoy a brighter Christmas. The families we help are selected with the assistance of our local school system and local agencies such as DEFACS.

The FBI recently released their Crime in the United States report for 2008 and it brings good news when it comes to violent crime across the country:

• Murder and non-negligent manslaughter: Down 3.9%
• Aggravated Assault: Down 2.5%
• Forcible Rape: Down 1.6% (lowest rate in 20 years)

On the other hand, property crimes to include thefts and burglaries saw slight increases and that trend is expected to continue as the economy remains stagnant.

The Criminal Investigations Division obtained five theft by deception warrants for Rob McPherson, owner of Great American Roofing, on Tuesday September 22, 2009. This came after the investigation of several complaints from citizens who gave McPherson deposits for work that was never performed.

McPherson is currently incarcerated in another Metro Atlanta county on similar charges. He will be transferred to TPD custody once his charges are answered in that jurisdiction.

The TPD is now a member of Nixle.com, a community information system that allows us to provide emergency alerts and other information to our citizens via email, text messaging, and online posts. Click here to learn more, or click the button below to join.

The Tyrone Police Department currently has one (1) opening for a certified police officer. More information and our application packet is available on our employment page.