Operation Thunder for Hall County Sheriff’s Office

Officials with the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety were in Gainesville Thursday, announcing—with Hall County Sheriff Gerald Couch—a weekend of Operation Thunder, an effort to crack down on speeding, impaired driving, and distracted driving in northeast Georgia.

From the Hall Co Sheriff’s Office Facebook page…

The Georgia GOHS Thunder Task Force will be in Hall County this weekend watching the county’s most dangerous roadways and intersections for impaired, distracted, reckless and speeding drivers.

Powell Harrelson with GOHS said at a Thursday morning news conference he’d be happy if officers didn’t write any tickets, but he knows that’s not likely to happen. Fatality and serious-injury crashes on Georgia roadways were higher in 2021 than in the past 15 years.

“This is not a money-making event,” Harrelson said. “This is an event to save lives, to reduce crashes and fatalities.”

Hall County Solicitor General Stephanie Woodard said her office prosecutes misdemeanor vehicular homicide cases, so she sees the tragic aftermath of these accidents.

“I have sat with families who have lost someone to a distracted driver, to a speeder. Those are the absolute worst conversations I have to have,” Woodard said.

Fifty specialized H.E.A.T. officers from around the state will be part of the weekend operation, which also includes personnel from the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, the Gainesville Police Department, the Georgia State Patrol and the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office Habersham Co. Sheriff Joey Terrell.

Hall County Sheriff Gerald Couch applauded the team effort involved in the safety event.

“No matter the shield or the star or the color of the uniform, we all work together,” Couch said.

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