The math is simple. As the population on our side of the county grows, so does the vehicle population. Obviously, as more drivers jockey for position on our roads, the risk of having a wreck rises proportionately.

Minor accidents are already commonplace. At least one fender-bender occurs almost daily, especially during rush hour. Accidents are virtually inevitable when it rains or roads are fogbound, since many people fail to adjust their driving to compensate for weather conditions.

"Usually, you've got excessive speed involved or DUI, which is my personal pet peeve," said Port Wentworth Police Officer David B. Rathbone, who knows what he's talking about. Officer Rathbone has been taking courses in accident investigation and reconstruction since 2000, and only lacks two of the five courses offered by the state's training center in Forsyth. The four West Chatham municipalities currently have only three officers who have completed the course-- Lt. Marta Street of Bloomingdale, Staff Sgt. Wayne Daniels of Garden City, and Sgt. Powell Harrelson of Pooler. Other officers are at various stages in their coursework, and Port Wentworth Corporal Loren R. Scholes will finish classes about the same time as Officer Rathbone.

Minor traffic accidents are usually straightforward affairs with no great mystery attached. How it happened and who's at fault can be determined quickly and the roadway cleared. "Generally the only time a reconstructionist is needed is when there is serious bodily injury or fatalities," Officer Rathbone said.

When a major wreck occurs, the resulting devastation can take hours or even days to sort out. Most drivers have found themselves waiting in traffic for what always seems like forever while police and emergency personnel handle a major accident. Inconvenient, sure, but the meticulous measuring, marking and diagramming accident reconstructionists are doing while you sit waiting for the debris to be cleared away is vital.

A major accident resulting in serious injury or death will also result in criminal charges and/or civil action. Vehicles involved in major crashes can end up in all sorts of positions that obscure obvious clues as to how and why the accident occurred. Which way a vehicle was travelling or who was driving is crucial when a case goes to court, and finding that out takes more than just a look at the scene.

The reconstructionist must determine scientifically and mathematically exactly what happened before, during and after the collision. Reconstruction means exactly that--showing that this person hit this object going in this direction and that's why this vehicle ended up where it did.

"It's a challenge," Officer Rathbone said. "It's different every time you go out there. You get someone usually who can't tell you what happened, due to injuries or because they passed away during the accident. It's your challenge and your responsibility to get out there and without a shadow of a doubt say what happened in this accident."

Officer Rathbone said he knows some officers with many years of experience at accident reconstruction who can study even a tangled scene and figure out what happened. They still spend the time making calculations, measurements and diagrams, both to confirm and to reinforce their assessments. "I want to get to that level," he said.

"There is a lot of physics, algebra and calculus involved," he said, and the classes are not easy. Luckily, he's had good teachers in Forsyth, he said.

Born in Moorehead City, NC., the only child of a Marine Corps major and his wife, Officer Rathbone bounced around from base to base during his childhood. The family landed here when he was in his early teens. His father, who is retired from the Marines, moved to Kentucky about three years ago.

"I had just gotten married," said Officer Rathbone. "I figured since I was already established here, I'd stay."

His growing interest in law enforcement was fed by the relationships he formed with area policemen who patronized The Mill Bakery and Eatery in Savannah, where David Rathbone worked as a teen.

Graduating from the police academy at Armstrong Atlantic University in 1995, he signed on with the Chatham County Sheriff's Office as a correctional officer. He moved to the Chatham County Police Department a couple of years later. He was part of CCPD's Marine Patrol for a long time. "Marine patrol was nice and it was fun getting out on the water," he said. "It was a good job. That side of law enforcement is not something a lot of police officers get to see."

But when an officer assigned to Traffic had to be replaced due to injury, Officer Rathbone gave it a try. "I volunteered, and found out within a couple of days of starting that traffic was really interesting and something that I wanted to do. I haven't looked back since."

Once in the Traffic Unit, Officer Rathbone started taking accident reconstruction classes. "My brain needs to be challenged, and accident reconstruction does that to the max. There's just so much involved with it. There are two on-scene levels and five levels of reconstruction. The on-scene classes are prerequisites for reconstruction."

Working in traffic enforcement, Officer Rathbone said, gave him the chance "to get out there and effectively reduce accidents. Speed and inattention cause a lot of accidents. The less accidents we have, the less chance we have of a bad one or a fatal one happening."

After six years with CCPD, Officer Rathbone felt he needed a change. He set his sights on Port Wentworth.

"I knew a lot of the guys out here, and knew Chief (James) Melvin by reputation. I heard he was an extremely good chief to work for and ran an extremely tight department."

Officer Rathbone made the switch last September, and is glad that he did. "It's more interesting here. They don't have the resources that the bigger departments have, so the case depends on the initial officer's response--how well he writes the report and the follow up he does. I've always been thorough, but out here it's extremely critical to be very, very thorough."

While Port Wentworth is a small town, Officer Rathbone thinks its size is a definite asset. "You get to know the residents here, you get to know the business owners, you get to know the people who, in effect, you answer to. I like that."

The biggest traffic accident he's handled since coming to Port Wentworth was a few weeks ago, when a motorcyclist hit a light pole on Highway 21. That one, Officer Rathbone, wasn't too bad from a reconstruction standpoint, yet he spent days finishing the calculations.

"When you get into a big, multi-vehicle accident where the driver at fault was DUI, the trial can be long and expensive. You've got to have your ducks in a row when you get to court."

With the traffic level increasing constantly, and the heavy traffic on I-95, Port Wentworth Police have to be prepared for the worst. Fortunately, when that happens, not only will nearby police departments pitch in to help, but in many cases, so will the residents.

"The neighborhoods are solid. People have lived here a good portion of their lives. They're very involved and very supportive of the police department," he said.

Police work in Port Wentworth is more interactive than reactive, Officer Rathbone says with a big grin. "You can't beat it with a stick."

He and his wife, Lauren, live in Savannah, but may look into moving to Port Wentworth soon.

 NOTE: Recently, Garden City Council voted unanimously to offer the job to Chief Lyons, who accepted. He will begin working in the latter part of May.

Garden City's police committee chairman, Councilman Bob Bryant, made the long-awaited announcement Monday night during the council meeting: only one name remains on the list of candidates for Chief of Police.

The lone candidate is David L. Lyons, who is currently police chief in Zebulon, Ga., a town of less than 2,000 situated about 40 miles from Atlanta, in Pike County.

"This particular person outshines all the candidates," Councilman Bryant said after the council meeting. "This is the person we want."

Councilman Bryant said a public forum will be scheduled so residents can ask Chief Lyons questions to determine his stance on issues that concern them.

During recent updates on the search for a new police chief, Councilman Bryant announced more than once that a forum would be held when the number of candidates--already pared down to a handful from more than 80 applicants--was down to two. Residents were to have the opportunity to query both prospective police chiefs on the issues facing the community as well as the department, and compare the two candidates.

"The concept (of the forum) changed," Councilman Bryant said.

Garden City lost its police chief last June after a scandal involving him and several other members of the force. The city hired an independent investigation firm, The Stewart Group, Inc. Its report recommended the chief's termination "be couched in an offer of resignation" so that the city could create "a new regime, one that it can mold and tweak as it chooses(,) given its prerogative to select and hand pick the next chief." The other officers involved were also allowed to resign, a move recommended by investigator Carlton R. Stewart so that "all of the cancer which has been eating away the Department from inside would be excised."

With the way paved for a fresh start, the city has spent the intervening months carefully studying and investigating each of the candidates for the position. Candidates were screened not only for the high level of knowledge and skills required but for, among other things, a synchronicity of their philosophy with the city's determination to meld with the community.

First Sergeant Tom McCook has held the position of acting Chief in the interim, running the department despite being called up by the Coast Guard in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. His name was not mentioned Monday night.

In making the announcement Monday, Councilman Bryant reeled off an impressive list of Chief Lyons' credentials, including a law degree and graduation from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's National Training Academy in Quantico, Va. (Readers may remember from our story last July on Chatham County Police Lt. Henry Wiley III that only one or two percent of all police officers in the country are selected to attend the Academy.)

Although only one name remains on the list, Councilman Jimmy Spilliards said no final decision has been made, yet. The date, time and place of the forum will be announced.

Councilman Bryant said that documents pertaining to Chief Lyons would be available for review. Unfortunately, we only received the chief's resume and cover letter initially. We received the bulk of the documents Wednesday afternoon. Due to deadline constraints, most of the information in this story comes from Chief Lyons' resume and letter of interest.

Chief Lyons' letter states that he has "over 24 years of law enforcement experience at all levels from patrolman to chief" and holds an Executive Level Certification from POST (Peace Officer Standards and Training). He is also a Certified Emergency Manager, a skill liable to come in handy on the hurricane-prone Atlantic coast.

Extensive experience in community oriented policing was apparently an important selling point, as Garden City's own program, still in its infancy, continues to grow. Councilman Bryant included some of this information during his announcement Monday.

We were able to speak with Chief Lyons by phone Wednesday afternoon. He seemed very personable and willing to talk, so we told him he was a hot topic of conversation around Garden City, with speculation revolving mainly around what he is like as a person and a policeman.

"I'm honest to a fault," he said without hesitation. "My integrity is my number one resource that I protect at all costs. I'm a nice guy, I'm easy to work for. "

Chief Lyons said he has been in town a couple of times already and took the opportunity to drive around Garden City. He said he is looking forward to his next visit, which will be next week.

The chief had no photographs available for us to use, which was our purpose in calling him. Hopefully, we will get a chance to speak with him in more depth and get a photo so we can properly introduce him to our readers.

Chief Lyons received the Individual Chief's Training Award at the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police (of which he is a member) training conference in 1999, where he was also nominated for the Outstanding Chief of the Year Award, according to his letter. He was chief of the Woodstock Police Department at that time, a position he assumed in 1997.

While at Woodstock, a town of about 14 thousand residents according to his letter, Chief Lyons helped institute a Citizens Police Academy, secure accreditation for the department, and established the community policing program. He was fired from that position in June, 1999, but awarded unemployment benefits when the state examiner found no evidence Chief Lyons was fired for failure to perform his duties.

In January, 2000, he became chief of the Zebulon Police Department. There, according to his letter, he "reorganized and updated a mismanaged and poorly funded department," establishing a School Resource Officer program using federal grant money, and establishing a Law Enforcement Explorer Post. He reorganized the Municipal Court, updating and streamlining the local judicial process.

Chief Lyons was in the US Army from 1975 until 1993, attaining the rank of Major. He was a member of the Army's Military Police. From 1982-1985, he served as Chief of Police of Ft. Bragg, NC, according to his resume, and from 1975-1980 was Chief of Investigations at Ft. Stewart. There, he increased the rate of crimes solved by 56 percent and served as liaison to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.

He is a member of both the International and Georgia Chiefs of Police, Pinta Lodge #88 F&AM, and Al Sihah Shrine Temple.

Chief Lyons is 55 and a native of Alabama. He and his wife, Cathy, have two children.

He received his law degree from Woodrow Wilson School of Law in Atlanta in 1985. He earned a Master's Degree in business from Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant in 1978, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga in 1975. He is also a graduate of North Carolina and Georgia Police Academies, and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Ga.

His list of training courses includes Command and General Staff College (Army), Military Police Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, counter-terrorism courses (Army), industrial security, and incident command course, plus more than 400 hours of additional courses conducted by the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police, according to his resume.

He is, according to his letter, a firm believer in Total Quality Management, and has had training in this method, which he said he has used successfully in both Woodstock and Zebulon.From late February 2002:

  Residents of Garden City concerned about home security have a couple of new allies.

The Garden City Police Department and Garden City Pride Association have teamed up to offer qualified residents brand new deadbolt locks for free.

Barbara O'Neal, Garden City's Community Oriented Policing officer, said the department checked into local civic organizations that might be willing to help fund the program. Since the Lions Club is currently in the middle of a program of its own right now, Officer O'Neal turned first to the Garden City Pride Association for help.

Bessie Kicklighter, president of the Garden City Pride Association, thought helping residents increase home security was a great idea. She took the proposal to the membership. "We donated $200 to buy the locks," she said, adding that the association plans to continue its partnership with the police department.

"Home security is a basic component of crime prevention," Officer O'Neal said. "We wanted to be more community oriented and provide a service that would help the citizens' own crime prevention efforts."

Because of all the questions she receives on how to make homes more secure, Officer O'Neal said that any resident of Garden City can request a survey of their home's present security. This service is free and unrestricted--anyone can ask for a home security survey.

Once completed, the survey will point out weaknesses in each home's present secuity, and suggest steps residents can take to make themselves safer.

Residents who are 55 years or older, living in Garden City and with a fixed income qualify for the free locks. Any resident who has been the victim of a serious crime also qualifies. Income and age restrictions may be waived on a case-by-case basis, Officer O'Neal said.

"This is an ongoing, indefinite program," Officer O'Neal said.

The program will need donations to buy more locks, though. Anyone wishing to donate to the program can call Ms. O'Neal at 966-7770, Ext. 101, or send donations directly to the Garden City Pride Association, Attention: Home Security & Locks Program, P.O. Box 7635, Garden City, GA 31418. Be sure to note on your check or money order that the donation is for the deadbolt locks.

Officer O'Neal encourages visitors at city hall to stop by her desk in the front lobby. She has several useful pamphlets, many oriented for children, on a variety of safety issues.