Ranger Hays Tells About Agency

Ranger 1st Class Freddie Hays talked to the group gathered for first Friday breakfast last week, and presented an overview of the smallest state law enforcement agency in the state.

The Department of Natural Resources conservation officers are generally referred to as game wardens.

He said there are 195 officers in seven regions…the same number as in 1988. It is also the oldest state law enforcement agency, founded in 1911, before the Georgia State Patrol or Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

He said it cost nearly $116,000 to hire, equip, and train one ranger. Rangers attend 11 week basic mandate school, just like any law enforcement officer. Then they attend a 12 week advanced ranger academy. Lastly they spend 18 weeks with an experienced ranger.

Officer Hays shared statistics for 2014. He said the agency has three areas of service—law enforcement, public education and community involvement.

Ranger Hays was recently named investigative ranger of the year, and he explained what he had done to get that accolade. He said that Facebook is a violator’s worst nightmare, saying that’s how he got a lead on the poachers he caught.

Officer Hays told about the different divisions that work within the DNR, such as the Critical Incident Reconstruction Team, that investigates fatalities, serious injuries, and shooter/victim situations. There is also a Critical Action Team that is dispatched through the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA), a Child Abduction Response Team, and a Body Recovery Team.

Rangers spent 4,600 hours last year helping other public safety agencies.

The breakfast was sponsored by Ginn Motor Co., in Covington a Monticello-Jasper County Chamber of Commerce member. The next first Friday breakfast will be Friday, June 5, at 8 a.m. at the Visitors’ Center.