Rabun Co. Deputies attend GEMA’s School Safety Conference

The Rabun County Sheriff’s Office reports that Sgt. Owens and Deputy Thompson recently attended GEMA’s Georgia School Safety and Homeland Security Conference this summer in Columbus.  “This conference is an important and vital resource to help keep our schools and communities safe,” said GEMA/HS Deputy Director Harlan Proveaux. “It also provides an opportunity for education officials to learn more about how they can prepare, prevent and respond to emergencies in schools.”  The Georgia School Safety and Homeland Security Conference started in 2009 and has since grown to a three-day event with over 500 participants learning first-hand experience from the state’s education and public safety personnel.  “For the first time in over 10 years, we will have three full days of subject matter experts teaching topics from communications in emergency situations, case studies from prior incidents, behavioral threat assessment training, and law enforcement leadership training,” said Proveaux.  “It is great that we have this phenomenal training offered right here in our state that brings education and public safety together to prepare these organizations for any type of situation that they could potentially face.  I appreciate Sgt. Owens and Deputy Thompson for being proactive when keeping the safety of our youth in mind,” said Sheriff Chad Nichols.  “We thank GEMA/Ga Homeland Security for making this topic a priority by having this yearly conference.”