There should have been a public discussion about whether or not to begin a new public safety initiative in Sugar Hill. If I’d been on the Council at the time, I would have suggested a series of Town Hall events, where the City could present information to the public, and solicit their feedback. The Town Halls should have included representation from Gwinnett County Police Department (GCPD), as well. 

That discussion should have started with needs, including information about how much crime we have in Sugar Hill and the nature of that crime. 

Then, we should have discussed residents’ security concerns and what issues GCPD thought needed some extra attention. Together, we should have come up with different options and talked about the pros and cons of each option, including cost to the taxpayers. 

As it stands, the City bypassed all that and picked what they wanted. So far, they haven’t presented the pros. In their mind, now that they’re on this path, it’s a done deal.  They might go back and try to list pros in response to my list of cons, but keep in mind, if they were proud of this plan and thought it could stand up to examination, they would have outlined their plan in advance and led with the pros instead of trying so hard to hide it for two years (or more).

How Much Crime is There in Sugar Hill?

Gwinnett County contracts with CrimeMapping.com to show incidents reports from GCPD up to six months in the past. You can see for yourself what’s going on in your neighborhood. While there are relatively fewer incidents in Sugar Hill than in many parts of Gwinnett County, we’re still dealing with some serious incidents, like assault and DUI. This is an image from CrimeMapping for the incidents between about March 21 and September 21.

I’m hearing from my neighbors that we need some extra security in Sugar Hill, and certain areas need traffic control for speeders.

I can also see where the City might need light security at events (checking bags upon entry, keeping a general eye on things). The need there depends on what actually happens at events, and the City has never shared information about problems there. I don’t think they keep a record of that, and that would be a prerequisite for me to submit an Open Records Request for it and get information. However, if you look at the kinds of things that might happen that require intervention (drunk and disorderly, fighting, DUI), Gwinnett County will have to be called in at some point. 

Return on Taxpayer Investment

While I am for reducing the size of the government and reducing public expenditures, there’s no question that a community should pool its resources for public safety. Defunding the police is a ridiculous idea. However, we need to spend tax dollars wisely, not blindly throw money at a problem. 

When I see Sugar Hill increasing their public safety expenditures, I see that translating to a tax increase at some point. These plans are already expensive. But, I would be willing to bet that what starts as a Marshal Service will gradually increase until we’re talking about a full-fledged Sugar Hill Police Department. That’s even more expensive. 

There are obvious costs, like patrol cars and paychecks, but also maintenance costs, such as training. Also, expanding our law enforcement efforts opens the City up to a different set of legal problems. This could also increase the City’s legal expenses (lawyer’s fees, damages, or more likely, settlements).

Taxpayers are a finite resource.  Every dollar a Sugar Hill taxpayer gives the City of Sugar Hill, for any reason, is one less dollar for them to use for their own needs, or to give Gwinnett County to fund GCPD and the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO).

Gwinnett County Chief of Police J.D. McClure recently requested about $2.3 million in the County’s 2022 budget to add 30 new officers. GCSO is asking for $5.6 million in 2022 for 50 new positions (37 sworn deputies and 13 civilians). 

Sugar Hill is served well by the Gwinnett County Police Department and Sheriff’s Office, which do a great job of protecting our community. Gwinnett County overall has some definite public safety challenges, so this isn’t an easy job. But, our officers and deputies face the challenges with professionalism and heart and deserve our respect and support for that. 

GCPD and GCSO also deserve our FINANCIAL support for that, and in my opinion, MOST of our financial support. 

Sugar Hill’s private security company hasn’t changed our need for GCPD or GCSO. Not by a long shot. Neither will a City Marshal or an entire Marshal Service. I’m not convinced a full-fledged Sugar Hill Police Department would even diminish the need by much.

The efforts of both private security and the new City Marshal seem focused largely on Downtown, not the surrounding community. Also, there are some serious crimes committed in Sugar Hill. These crimes are outside the stated scope of both the private security firm and the Marshal service.  

What We Pay

In 2019, the City’s budget for Public Safety was $175,000, and they actually spent $134,510. All of that money went toward Plaza Security. In 2020, they spent $129,237 on Plaza Security, and in the first half of 2021, they spent $46,129 on Plaza. I asked City Manager Paul Radford about the cost difference between Plaza Security and the new private security firm, Insight, and was told there wasn’t much difference. I still got the impression it was higher, although interestingly, he declined to provide an actual dollar amount. 

The 2020 Public Safety budget ballooned to $538,165. The City spent $404,195 of it on Plaza Security, off-duty Gwinnett County police officers, and vehicles/equipment, presumably for the Marshal Service. 

In 2021, the Public Safety budget has grown to $570,890. In the first half of the year, they had already spent $122,196 between Plaza Security, off-duty GCPD officers, dues/fees, and apparently, "emergency gasoline".

And, the expense will grow leaps and bounds from here. Keep in mind that so far, they’ve only bought some vehicles and hired a City Marshal. They are still planning to hire four more officers and an administrative assistant.

City Manager Paul Radford recently told the AJC that he projects spending about $875,000 to cover the costs of the new Marshal service, private security firm Insight Security, and the off-duty police officers. I anticipate seeing that number or something close when the 2022 budget is announced during the holidays this year. 

When I look at the amounts spent, I wonder what an established police force like Gwinnett County could do to improve security with the same amount of money Sugar Hill collected from taxpayer pockets. More than a half-million dollars is no small amount, and the City’s rapidly closing in on a million dollars for this initiative. 

That amount of money would make a sizable dent in the $2.3 million GCPD requested and a fairly nice contribution to the $5.6 million GCSO needs.

Security for Some, Not for All

In 2020, the City ramped up its employment of off-duty Gwinnett County police officers. The officer presence was concentrated in the Downtown area. I asked someone at the City if there was some particular threat to Downtown and was told that it was to protect the businesses since most of them had closed during the height of the pandemic.

As the pandemic restrictions lifted and business went back to a more normal state, not only did the presence of the off-duty officers not change, it seemed to increase. I often saw two squad cars there, at most every time of day. 

As far as I know, no off-duty officers have been requested to stay at any other businesses or residences in Sugar Hill. Just the downtown area. 

Plaza Security continued to be employed throughout 2021. While their reports from a few years ago mention patrolling subdivisions, more recently, their activity concentrated primarily on Downtown, as you can see from their routine reports.

It appears Insight Security and the new Marshal service are still mostly intended to protect those same areas, with their primary focus on Downtown. 

I don’t mind paying for GCPD, which provides a consistently high level of safety throughout the County. I do mind being required to pay for someone else to have “enhanced security” in addition to GCPD. These housing developments collect rent and make money. They should be in charge of paying to provide “enhanced security” for their residents. And, E-Center businesses should be paying for security the same way they would be if they were renting in a privately owned shopping center. Taxpayers should not be expected to subsidize their “enhanced security” costs, especially since the City didn’t mention that cost to taxpayers before building the E-Center. 

From a Business Perspective

The E-center is home to 13 or so businesses right now. Spread out from there and look at what most people consider “Downtown,” including Sugar Hill Distillery, Great Beginnings, the Home Spun complex, North Gwinnett Dental complex, Race Trac, everything in the Suite Spot, the planned Lidl and medical facility off of Sycamore, the businesses that will be in The Cadence and The Local. If you’re excessively generous, you’re talking about maybe 50-60 businesses. Be extra generous and round up to a 100. 

There are about 936 BUSINESSES THROUGHOUT SUGAR HILL! Many are home-based businesses that have a twofold need for security, both as business investments and residences. 

Businesses that are not in Downtown are required through taxes to foot the bill to protect the downtown businesses, which may also be their competitors. For example, the City of Sugar Hill has at least 23 restaurants outside the downtown area. These businesses then must pay for their security out of their own pocket, either directly, or indirectly through a landlord. 

That’s not an equitable setup. The City might try to chalk this up to “economic development”, but it seems a lot more like cronyism. 

From a Residential Perspective

Downtown Sugar Hill houses, and will house, a lot of residents. But, most of the City’s 25,000 or so residents do NOT live in the downtown area. The benefit to them is questionable. 

I live less than a mile from Downtown, and I don’t anticipate any of this benefitting my residence. I rarely saw Plaza Security driving down my street. The few times I did, it didn’t make me feel any safer. 

The area of town most ignored in this plan is the portion of Sugar Hill that extends way down Buford Highway and contains homes with Suwanee mailing addresses. Those residents are closer to Downtown Suwanee than they are to Downtown Sugar Hill. 

Another interesting thing is that the City government CHOSE to build these dense developments in the downtown area. They plan to build more. Anyone who asked about potential security concerns presented by more dense development and the potential ongoing cost of securing these areas would have been trivialized or completely ignored. As the City continues its plans to put even more dense housing in the area, anyone who brings it up will probably still be trivialized and ignored. 

If dense developments truly are not a special security concern, that is yet another reason we shouldn’t be paying as a City to provide them with “enhanced” security.” If they are, that’s yet another reason we need to slow down the dense development. 

Accountability

Law enforcement is a serious, potentially life and death issue. It’s arguably the most serious issue any municipal government will ever handle. Managing it well requires a certain degree of transparency, and the utmost accountability, two areas where the government of Sugar Hill has consistently demonstrated an inability and/or willingness to police itself. 

The fact that the City aggressively covered up its plans to establish a law enforcement agency for two years or so to avoid public feedback and discussion until it was almost too late to stop them doesn’t bode well for accountability. It doesn’t make any sense to think they’re suddenly going to open up about anything regarding law enforcement. 

If they were not willing to tell you they were starting this up, they’re not going to tell you if/when they increase its scope and gradually morph it into a full-fledged police department. They’re not going to tell you if a marshal catches a City official or friend or family member of a City official doing something and is pressured to let it slide to remain employed. They won’t tell you if they end up using public law enforcement for their own personal security purposes. They’re not going to tell you if an officer is accused of wrongdoing. They sure won’t tell you if an officer is actually guilty of wrongdoing. 

To think that this will be the one law enforcement entity that doesn’t get accused of bad behavior at some point is unbelievably dumb. It’s a fact of life in law enforcement. Sometimes, my guess is most of the time, the accusations are wrong. But, sometimes, they’re right. There should be enough transparency so the public can SEE that these issues are dealt with fairly and responsibly from the perspective of both residents and officers, so they can hold the City accountable if they’re not. Sugar Hill’s standard policy to obscure, avoid, deny, and try to paint a happy face on everything doesn’t cut it when you’re talking about life and death. 

Gwinnett County Police Department has stronger accountability to start with because they’re larger and have so many more eyes on them in the community. And, when an incident occurs there, it stands a good chance of making the news. The same isn’t true of small-town law enforcement. That’s just a fact that no one can change.

However, Gwinnett County also engages in multiple initiatives to ensure accountability that haven’t been discussed in Sugar Hill. 

• GCPD encourages residents to talk to them about what they see.
• GCSO encourages residents to talk to them about what they see.
• GCPD keeps statistics, and shares them with the public.
• Since 2018, they’ve been wearing body cameras.
• They provide annual reports on their website that disclose how many incidents everyone, including Internal Affairs, is handling. 

Moving Forward

I don’t think it’s too late for the public to DEMAND a discussion. Elected officials and this government work for YOU. You now have some information about the cons of their plan and the shady way they handled it. Make them provide their pros, and weigh it out for yourselves. 

While I don’t like the City’s plan, I’m not going to tell you that I am qualified to make the decision single-handedly. Nobody is, or was. The only difference is that I wouldn’t have let my ego get in the way of what is best for the community. Public discussion was the way to go on this, and it would have been even if I were on the City Council.  

If you’re not happy with it, you can have them back off this plan. At this point, changing plans will cost some money, but they’re just getting started. What they’ve spent so far is nothing compared to what they will spend. And nothing is ever as expensive as letting a poorly thought-out government plan become entrenched.

Whether you decide you like the City’s current public safety plan or not, the way they went about it should arouse suspicion in everyone. If their plan is the one we’re going with, citizens need to heighten their observation of this government in general, and its law enforcement initiatives specifically. 

Strong pressure needs to be put on the Mayor and Council to make the City Marshal directly accountable to them, not the City Manager. 

Pressure needs to be put on the Mayor, Council, City Manager, and City Marshal to implement the same practices that Gwinnett County follows to ensure transparency and accountability. Sugar Hill residents should be able to go online and easily file reports (even anonymously, just like you can with Gwinnett County) if they see something that’s not quite right. They should be able to see statistics about how many incidents and what kind of incidents the Marshal Service handles, how many allegations of wrongdoing were reported, and the outcome of those investigations. And, if we’ve got to pay extra to have body cameras on the Marshals, I will tell you right now I am completely in favor of that expense. 

Elected officials, City Managers, and City Marshals that won’t do at least that much for you do not deserve to serve in the government. And they sure as hell don’t need to be in charge of law enforcement.