Henry Farber, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution
Clayton County Sheriff Stanley Tuggle received Georgia’s county officer of the year award last week from the County Officers’ Association.
Members of the association include sheriffs, clerks of court, probate judges and tax commissioners.
The selection committee, which voted at a meeting in Savannah, included county Tax Commissioner Pat Hussey. “I’m very proud because he’s an honorable, conscientious sheriff,” Hussey said at a local luncheon in Tuggle’s honor after the state meeting.
Among the 50 people at the luncheon were Commission Chairman Crandle Bray, Chief Juvenile Court Judge Van Banke and District Attorney Bob Keller.
Tuggle joined the Sheriff’s Department as a deputy in 1973 and was first elected sheriff in 1997.
He is vice president of an 11-county region of the Georgia Sheriff’s Association, chairman of the Clayton Narcotics Task Force and chairman of the board of the Regional Police Academy, which trains officers from 32 agencies.
The officer of the year award was based, in part, on a number of Tuggle’s initiatives, including the following programs he started:
- Alzheimer’s Safety Program, which encourages caretakers to compile packets of information on stricken relatives in case they get lost. The packets include a recent photo, fingerprint cards, prescriptions and hair samples.
- Cops in Shops, an undercover program designed to punish stores that sell alcohol to minors. The program also catches young people who try to buy alcohol.
- The SAVE program (Stop Alcohol Violations Early) teaches middle-schoolers about the dangers of driving while intoxicated. The idea is to instill lessons about safe driving before students get driver’s licenses.