PR04-015

Date:

September 13, 2004

Fulton Deputies To Teach Gang Resistance Program Following Federal Grant Award

The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office has been awarded a $23,800 Federal grant to participate in the nationally recognized Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) program. As a result of this funding, specially trained deputies from the Community Relations Section entered the classrooms this morning to begin teaching the highly successful 13-week curriculum to seventh grade students.

Gang Resistance Education and Training is funded by the United States Office of Justice, Office of Justice Programs. The 2004 funding award will allow deputies to teach G.R.E.A.T. in eight (8) middle schools. Funding is used to purchase student handbooks, class incentives and other supplies necessary for the successful teaching of G.R.E.A.T.

During the next thirteen (13) weeks, uniformed deputies from the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office will interact with students in the classroom. The students will learn about the consequences associated with peer pressure and gang activity. In addition, these highly motivated deputies will teach students how to focus on success, and give them the encouragement they need to make positive choices in their lives.

The G.R.E.A.T. program is taught in forty-eight (48) states across the nation. The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office has been teaching G.R.E.A.T. since 1994.

The G.R.E.A.T. program is currently being taught at Turner, Walden, Sandy Springs and Carson Middle Schools. The program will conclude with an awards ceremony and graduation commencement at each school. Students successfully completing the program will receive a “Certificate of Accomplishment” and a graduate t-shirt.

Four (4) additional schools to receive G.R.E.A.T will be identified later this year.

For more information, including class schedule and times, please contact Lieutenant Clarence Huber at (404) 730-4148. Lieutenant Huber can also be reached on his digital pager at (404) 742-6798.