Deputy Chief Gary Baggett, Firefighters Chris Tallent, Robbie Townsend, Josh Peek, Brent Newton, Matt Vess, and Chief Bruce Satterfield pose for a photo during Tuesday morning’s meeting.
The Dalton Fire Department opened Tuesday’s monthly meeting of the Dalton Public Safety Commission with the promotion of five firefighters to the rank of Firefighter II. Matt Vess, Brent Newton, Josh Peek, Robbie Townsend and Chris Tallent all had their promotions approved by unanimous 5-0 vote of the commission.
Firefighter Vess has served the department since February 2006, while Firefighters Newton, Peek, Townsend, and Tallent all joined in March 2008.
Chief Jason Parker continued Tuesday morning’s meeting with his agency’s monthly statistical report. Overall, crime reports for the year to date (through the end of November) were up about six percent. Part I Crimes, the most serious crimes, are being reported at nearly the same rate (1,289 reports this year compared to 1,290 reports in 2011). Traffic crashes in Dalton, meanwhile, have gone up 14% in 2012 compared to the first 11 months of 2011.
Also at Tuesday morning’s meeting, three new Dalton Police officers had their hiring confirmed by unanimous 5-0 vote of the commission. Officers Michael Purcell and Colton Parker joined the agency after recently graduating from the Georgia Public Safety Training Center’s Regional Police Academy in Dalton. Officer Grant Mantooth is signing on for his second tour of duty with the Dalton Police Department, previously serving the agency from March 2002 to October 2003 before leaving to work for a family business. He maintained his police certification during that time as a volunteer reserve officer with the Cohutta Police Department until October 2012.
Both Chief Parker and Chief Satterfield had happy news for the Public Safety Commission on Tuesday morning as they reported that both agencies will finish the year under budget.