InTucker Magazine

On the Beat with Lt. Berg – January 2022

Lt. J.W. Berg is Tucker’s liaison to the DeKalb County Police Department and can be contacted by email at jwberg@dekalbcountyga.gov or by phone at (678) 597-9040.

In this month’s “On the Beat”, I’d like to introduce you to some individuals who often work behind the scenes here at Tucker Precinct.

If you are ever the victim of a property crime, the detectives in our Criminal Investigation Division, also known as Tucker CID, can help. These individuals often don’t get recognized for the grueling, detail-oriented work they do identifying criminal offenders, recovering stolen property and helping to bring closure to what our police officers respond to on a daily basis.

Most of you know that our job typically begins with a 911 call. When a call for service comes in, a Tucker Precinct territory police officer (one assigned to patrol in the general area of the call) will quickly be dispatched to handle the incident. Our police officers are experienced in handling a wide variety of calls including traffic accidents, customer disputes, shoplifting, automobile thefts, domestic assaults, robberies, burglaries and many others. Upon arrival, the responding officer will render aid to any victims, secure the crime scene, collect items of evidence, make an arrest if able and, finally, document the incident in an official police report.

While the uniformed police officers are the ones you will see most visibly on the streets of Tucker, we are fortunate to have a great group of detectives to call on for assistance. Per department policy, our officers are required to notify our Tucker CID detectives of any major property crime including robberies, entering automobiles, burglaries, forgeries and felony thefts. Other major crimes, including homicides and felony domestic violence cases, are investigated by other CID divisions located at our headquarters off West Exchange Place. Our Tucker Precinct CID detectives, all of whom excelled as officers, are the in-house experts for our busy precinct.

On significant cases such as pedestrian robberies, our Tucker detectives will be notified and respond to the scene. The responding detectives will assist the officer by interviewing any witnesses, collecting physical evidence, and attempting to speak with any suspects who may have been detained. After this initial response, the detectives typically head back to their office to begin the tedious nature of investigating leads and locating further evidence. The detectives will then write their own reports, colloquially titled “court sups”. In the end, while it was the police officer who originally responded to the call, it will be the detectives who ultimately obtain warrants and assist in prosecuting these felony crimes.

If you are the unfortunate victim of a serious property crime in 2022, your interaction with us will begin by meeting one of our uniformed officers. You will be given a business card with the case number of your report (a number beginning with “22“). If the crime fits our criteria, the incident will then be assigned to a Tucker detective who will work to further investigate your case. In most situations, you will be getting a follow up call or letter from our CID unit within a few days.

Our Tucker Precinct detectives are located here at our precinct (4451 Lawrenceville Hwy., however our lobby is still closed due to COVID). If you have any questions about your case that the officer was not able to address during your initial encounter, please feel free to give our CID detectives a call. They can be reached at our general precinct number, (678) 937-5301, then select option “5”.

In the end, please remember that our officers, backed up by a group of professional detectives, are here to serve when called. If we don’t get a call from you this year, we will not take it personally. That is probably a good sign!

Georgia Laws to Know in 2022

O.C.G.A 40-6-75(c) Duty to remove vehicle from public roads; removal of incapacitated vehicle from state highway. The law reads in part:
“When a motor vehicle traffic accident occurs with no apparent serious personal injury or death, it shall be the duty of the drivers of the motor vehicles involved in such traffic accident, or any other occupant of any such motor vehicle who possesses a valid driver’s license, to remove said vehicles from the immediate confines of the roadway into a safe refuge on the shoulder, emergency lane, or median or to a place otherwise removed from the roadway whenever such moving of a vehicle can be done safely and the vehicle is capable of being normally and safely driven, does not require towing, and can be operated under its own power in its customary manner without further damage or hazard to itself, to the traffic elements, or to the roadway…. “
NOTE: This law was enacted to prevent further accidents after an initial traffic incident. Essentially, if you can move your vehicles to an adjacent parking lot or onto the shoulder of the road after an accident, please do so for your safety. There is no need to stay in the middle of the road and wait for an officer; our experienced officers will still be able to determine what happened at the time of the accident.