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State Patrol PreparesDisney World Will Create Traffic Problems In PerryAerial View Of Perry’s 1-75 InterchangeSgt. Johnny Moreland watches radio operator Charles Nutt operate the computerized teletype at the Perry State Patrol Post.by MAXINE THOMPSONNow that Walt Disney World, the super tourist attraction in central Florida, is open to the public, what effect will the increase in traffic on Interstate 75 have on the Perry State Patrol Post?“It’s going to be rough,” said Sgt. Johnny Moreland, a trooper for 22 years and head of the local post for the past nine years. “I just had to draw up estimated 1973 budget figures, and we expect four times as much traffic through here when Disney World gets in full swing.” Only the initial phase of the tourist attraction opened last week, with more areas to open each year.At present Georgia State Patrol Post 15 here, which serves Houston, Bibb, Bleckley, Peach, Macon and Pulaski Counties, has 15 troopers including Moreland. There were only 14 until the post gained one man from the last training school. The post also has 4 Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents, 4 radio operators, 2 license examiners, and 1 clerk.What goes into the making of a trooper? ‘‘The requirements are rigid,” said Moreland. “They include a high school education, minimum of 5 foot ten inch height, and 160 pounds weight. He must be in excellent physical condition, and must be 21 years old. (A radio operator can start at age 18.) The 8 week training course at the Police Academy at State Headquarters in Atlanta is worse than some military training. Some can't make it. If a man can’t qualify in 8 weeks but wants to keep trying and shows promise, he’s given more time.”What about character qualifications? ‘‘He’s investigated from the day he was bom,” Moreland said. At the school, the emphasis is on courtesy, with classes on speech, courtesy, civil and criminal law, self-defense, and accident investigation.With the stringent qualifications and training, there are no surplus patrolmen, as one might well imagine.Our quota here has been set at 20 men by 1973 when traffic is expected to be four times what it is now on 1-75,” Sgt. Moreland said. We’re not promised anything concerning just when we’ll get the men.”The Perry State Patrol Station is housed in an attractive brick building under tall pines just off 1-75 andU.S. 41 interchange. At one time it was located in the old residence that is now the office of Dr. A. G. Hendrick on Swift Street, and later in what is now the location of the Farm Bureau on Carroll Street in downtown Perry.Major G. H. Webb, who is in charge of the Police Academy in Atlanta, was in charge of the Perry post before Sgt. Moreland. Lt. J. H. Pressley, training officer at the academy, was also a Perry trooper.‘‘Conditions are much better now for troopers than they used to be,” Moreland said. “We used to get 4 days a month off, and now we have a 5 day work week. We have 3 telephone lines, 3 radios, and a computerized teletype. The teletype now has to go through a terminal in Atlanta, but we are due to receive a new one that can give us a direct line where in the country. For example, if a trooper on the highway spots a suspicious tag, he can radio the information in to the operator on duty, who will put it in the machine and receive a reply back from Washington, D.C. inj seconds flat.‘‘In my opinion, this computer is the greatest improvement in law enforcement in many years, if officers put the information in it.”The troopers have three Vas Car units, a computerized speed checkingdevice, and 1 radar unit, as well as an alkalizer. With manpower stretched out thinly to cover a lot of territory already, Moreland hopes to have more men in the near future.“With 1-75, Warner Robins and Robins Air Force Base in our territory, we have more of every kind of problem,” he said.Sgt. Moreland is well aware of the fact that being a patrolman is no picnic. Exactly 20 years ago onOctober 14, when he was a trooper, he and then Corp. G. H. Webb were questioning a suspect at the rear of his car about midnight at the side of the Hawkinsville Road about 15 miles south of Perry. A car came along and crashed into them, crushing Moreland and the suspect between the cars. The suspect died of his injuries early Monday. Corp. Webb received concussions and lacerations.Sgt. Moreland receivedtwo broken legs, one broken arm, and lung injuries, later developing double pneumonia. He didn’t walk for four years, and it was five years before he could resume work.A native of Ringgold, Georgia, Sgt. Moreland came to Perry from Dalton, the only other state patrol post at which he served. He is married to the former Runell Hutto of Hayneville, and they have three sons, Eddie, Gene, and Robbie.
Newspaper Details
Perry Houston Home Journal
Perry, Georgia, US
Thu, Oct 07, 1971
Page 32
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