Members of a local law enforcement organization will be at busy intersections this weekend collecting donations in the fight against drunk driving.
Tuck Nicholls, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 82 and an investigator with the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, said the group will conduct a bucket drive Saturday.
He said the event is being held in honor of Carl Thomas Lotspeich, who was killed June 1, 2009, by a drunk driver traveling the wrong way on the Dallas North Tollway in Texas. Lotspeich, 25, was the younger brother of sheriff’s Investigator Deidre Lotspeich.
“In his honor, we’re going to donate proceeds from this bucket drive to Mothers Against Drunk Driving,” Nicholls said.
Lotspeich said she and her family members plan to travel to Dallas later this month to participate in the organization’s Walk Like MADD fundraising event.
She said having the bucket drive in her brother’s honor is “awesome.”
“It’s absolutely amazing knowing that everybody’s pulling together and helping out,” she said. “My whole family is going to be [in Dallas] for the walk.”
The sheriff’s office in March was named as the 2009 MADD Georgia Statewide Agency of the Year, an award the agency was also given in 2007.
Sheriff Ted Paxton said competition for the award is “very fierce.”
“We compete against agencies that are much larger, such as the City of Atlanta Police Department, DeKalb County Police Department and the Cobb County Police Department, just to name a few,” he said. “It’s an honor to have been selected as the top agency in the entire state. I am very proud of the men and women who work diligently to deter drinking and driving in our county.”
Sheriff’s corporals Richard Thompson and Kris Hall and deputies Troy Embrey and Matthew Runion received gold pins from MADD for making between 100 and 149 driving under the influence arrests in 2009.
Additionally, sheriff’s deputies Brandon Wiley and William Sessa received bronze pins for making between 25 and 49 driving under the influence arrests last year.
The agency dedicated the award and pins in memory of Lotspeich’s brother.
“That was breathtaking, it really was,” she said of the accolades. “I really wasn’t expecting anything. It’s part of our job going out there and taking care of those things, so it was definitely a great feeling seeing that.”
Lt. Col. Gene Moss, commander of the sheriff’s law enforcement bureau, said the agency as a whole contributed to the accomplishments.
“From the deputies conducting traffic stops and safety checkpoints, to the detention officers performing Intoxilyzer tests, to the administrative staff and records staff processing paperwork, to the deputies in the school resource officer unit and the community relations unit conducting countless meetings educating citizens, to the school system providing its support, it’s a group effort.”
Nicholls said lodge members will be at as many intersections countywide as they can Saturday wearing Fraternal Order of Police vests.
Tuck Nicholls, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 82 and an investigator with the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, said the group will conduct a bucket drive Saturday.
He said the event is being held in honor of Carl Thomas Lotspeich, who was killed June 1, 2009, by a drunk driver traveling the wrong way on the Dallas North Tollway in Texas. Lotspeich, 25, was the younger brother of sheriff’s Investigator Deidre Lotspeich.
“In his honor, we’re going to donate proceeds from this bucket drive to Mothers Against Drunk Driving,” Nicholls said.
Lotspeich said she and her family members plan to travel to Dallas later this month to participate in the organization’s Walk Like MADD fundraising event.
She said having the bucket drive in her brother’s honor is “awesome.”
“It’s absolutely amazing knowing that everybody’s pulling together and helping out,” she said. “My whole family is going to be [in Dallas] for the walk.”
The sheriff’s office in March was named as the 2009 MADD Georgia Statewide Agency of the Year, an award the agency was also given in 2007.
Sheriff Ted Paxton said competition for the award is “very fierce.”
“We compete against agencies that are much larger, such as the City of Atlanta Police Department, DeKalb County Police Department and the Cobb County Police Department, just to name a few,” he said. “It’s an honor to have been selected as the top agency in the entire state. I am very proud of the men and women who work diligently to deter drinking and driving in our county.”
Sheriff’s corporals Richard Thompson and Kris Hall and deputies Troy Embrey and Matthew Runion received gold pins from MADD for making between 100 and 149 driving under the influence arrests in 2009.
Additionally, sheriff’s deputies Brandon Wiley and William Sessa received bronze pins for making between 25 and 49 driving under the influence arrests last year.
The agency dedicated the award and pins in memory of Lotspeich’s brother.
“That was breathtaking, it really was,” she said of the accolades. “I really wasn’t expecting anything. It’s part of our job going out there and taking care of those things, so it was definitely a great feeling seeing that.”
Lt. Col. Gene Moss, commander of the sheriff’s law enforcement bureau, said the agency as a whole contributed to the accomplishments.
“From the deputies conducting traffic stops and safety checkpoints, to the detention officers performing Intoxilyzer tests, to the administrative staff and records staff processing paperwork, to the deputies in the school resource officer unit and the community relations unit conducting countless meetings educating citizens, to the school system providing its support, it’s a group effort.”
Nicholls said lodge members will be at as many intersections countywide as they can Saturday wearing Fraternal Order of Police vests.