the NEWS May 16, 2015
Volume 7, Issue 5
rockdalenews.com
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Honoring their Sacrifice Mahaffey and Christian families gather for slain deputies’ memorial, Page 6 Serving Rockdale County and Conyers
Local police reserve units meet training standards By John Ruch
jruch@rockdalenews.com
Darrell Everidge/The Rockdale News
Above & Beyond Tanisha Reina (TOP), 41, won the Rockdale Medical Center’s 2014 Employee of the Year Award at the hospital’s May 13 ceremony. Reina has worked at the hospital for nearly 10 years and was nominated for the award after she began driving a patient to and from the hospital because the patient had no one else to help them. Winning the award is “very special” to Reina and it “means a lot to me,” she said. Reina resides in Newton County with her husband, their two teenage sons and the family dog, Rocky. Nicki Bailey (RIGHT) was nominated by her peers and chosen as the RMC 2014 Nurse of the Year. The 31-year-old ER nurse was working and taking calls even through the beginning of the ceremony last week. Her husband, firefighter Adam Bailey, and their two young daughters surprised her at the ceremony. Jennifer Phillips (BELOW) was named the Mercy Award Winner, a prize given by LifePoint Hospitals which recognizes a person who has gone above and beyond in service to the community and patients.
Local police reserve units—the volunteer officers who supplement the paid force—are generally welltrained by state standards, a News review has found. Police reserve units were pushed into a negative spotlight last month when 73-year-old Robert Bates, a volunteer sheriff ’s deputy in Tulsa, Okla., accidentally shot a suspect to death during an arrest while attempting to shock him with a Taser. Questions quickly emerged about the Bates’s fitness, training and political ties to the sheriff, and he now faces a manslaughter charge. The News examined the reserve unit policies for the Rockdale County Sheriff ’s Office and the Conyers Police Department, and the training records of all of the reserve officers: eight at RCSO and nine at CPD.
See TRAINING on PAGE 8
Investigation into pill in Magistrate judge’s drinking water By Martin Rand III
mrand@rockdalenews.com
An incident involving Rockdale County Magistrate Court Phinia Aten has led the Rockdale County Sheriff ’s Office (RCSO) to begin a preliminary investigation into whether someone tried to slip a pill into the judge’s drinking water. Rockdale Sheriff Eric Levett told The News that the investigation is only preliminary at this juncture to see if there is any merit to the complaint filed. The Georgia Bureau of Investigations has been called for assistance on the investigation, a GBI spokesperson confirmed.
See JUDGE on PAGE 11
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