Haralson hosts area, GSP and Ala. agencies for training and safety checkpoints

The Haralson County Sheriff’s Office played host with other area and state law enforcement agencies in the annual Hands Across the Border initiative in recent days.

The HCSO posted about the annual training session held at Muse Farms that goes along with safety checkpoints that is a cooperative effort between the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety and Alabama’s state law enforcement agency and local agencies on both sides of the state line.

With Haralson hosting this year, they brought together several law enforcement representatives from West Georgia and East Alabama, along with the Georgia State Patrol and the ALEA (Alabama Law Enforcement Agency) troopers that heard from a former officer as a speaker during the event who knows the dangers faced by officers daily.

Former Carrollton Police Officer Rob Holloway came up to Haralson County to speak to members of law enforcement during the training session. Officers, deputies and troopers also got to share meals together thanks to Mother and Daughter’s catering at the farm venue northwest of Bremen.

Hands Across the Border is held every year leading up to the Labor Day holiday in a partnership with states across the southeast that border Georgia in order to find and remove drunk or otherwise impaired drivers off the roadways, and spot vehicle-related safety issues that can cause all kinds of issues in traffic.

Checkpoints following the training session were setup this year around the Cleburne County/Haralson County line on U.S. Highway 78 in an effort to focus on that portion of the county this year.

Out of this year’s checkpoint, the HCSO reported that four drivers were caught driving under the influence, made a drug arrest, and made one arrest on a felony warrant. They also found three cases of drivers operating on a suspended or revoked license, six seatbelt violations and two violations of children not in a safety seat.

They gave out seven warnings during the incident.

Law enforcement’s ultimate goal with checkpoints like these are to hopefully educate drivers and send them on their way, not handing out tickets or making arrests. However, they offer a vital opportunity for continuous training for officers in spotting drivers operating under the influence, or other criminal activities that may be happening behind the wheel.