August 15, 2005
Albany-- Probate Judge Nancy Stephenson swore in Troy Conley Monday morning, and then Chief Conley went right to work.
Despite controversy over Conley's college degree, which came from a questionable on-line university, the leaders of the Dougherty County School System say they're confident he'll do a good job protecting our children.
On his first day of work, Conley still wasn't talking to the media. Instead, Deputy Superintendent Carlos Keith says Conley's first task is hiring 16 new police officers to complete the school system's new security force.
"The first order of business is to look at the applicants for police officers. We have 49 applications, and he'll be reviewing those this week," he said.
Keith hopes the new police force will be complete by mid-September. "This is something we won't be rushing. We're going to take our time to make sure we have everything done the correct way."
That caution comes after a much-criticized decision to hire Troy Conley, with little notice to the public and amidst questions about the validity of Conley's four-year college degree.
But Keith and other school system leaders say they're confident Chief Conley will run the police force smoothly and keep the county's public school children safe. Deputy Superintendent Carlos Keith also says Chief Conley is also ordering equipment from uniforms to police cars for the new officers.
Dougherty County Sheriff deputies and county police officers will continue patrolling the schools until the new system security force takes over.
Feedback: news@walb.com
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2013 Worldnow and WALB, a Raycom Media Station. 
