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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Deadly Silence: An Assessment Of Emergency Alert Systems For Lincoln County, Georgia, Gretchen B. Keneson, Mar 2011

Deadly Silence: An Assessment Of Emergency Alert Systems For Lincoln County, Georgia, Gretchen B. Keneson,

Georgia Journal of Public Policy

Rural counties have a predisposition to sustaining catastrophic losses during natural emergencies. These counties tend to have poorer economic conditions that exacerbate attempts at hazard mitigation. Emergency Alerts Systems (EAS) are the most efficient and effective ways to provide information of impending danger. This study will compare and contrast different EAS to determine which would accommodate the needs of a community. The most successful way for most counties to alert citizens is through the use of a combination of redundant systems. For pastoral Lincoln County, Georgia the optimal systems are an alert siren and auto call capabilities. Both of these …


Impact Of The Economic Downturn On Local Governments In South Carolina, William Tomes Mar 2011

Impact Of The Economic Downturn On Local Governments In South Carolina, William Tomes

Georgia Journal of Public Policy

Across the country local government revenues have decreased while operating costs such as fuel, materials, equipment, and health insurance costs have significantly increased. In addition to reduced revenues, interest earnings for city and county government investments are low. These factors combined have created a difficult financial arena in which local governments must operate. While economists are reporting signs of economic recovery, many city and county budgets are just now feeling the full brunt of the economic downturn that began in 2008. On a daily basis, news media nationwide report local governments addressing budget deficits by cutting services, eliminating positions, or …


Proper Crime Recording As An Effective Feedback Tool In Articulating A Crime Policy, Kevin A. Unter Mar 2011

Proper Crime Recording As An Effective Feedback Tool In Articulating A Crime Policy, Kevin A. Unter

Georgia Journal of Public Policy

Crime policy is subject to the policy process just like other governmental policies. An effective crime policy is one that reduces the amount of crime in a police department’s jurisdiction, e.g., the city. Accordingly, crime policy consists of the same policy components – agenda setting, formulation, implementation, and feedback. The implementation of any crime policy depends on the information collected by police departments, often through crimes reported to the department via 9-1-1 calls or brought to a police officer’s attention through proactive police work. The success of that police work relative to the reported crime first depends on whether the …


Federal Earmarks In The State Of Georgia, Jeffrey Lazarus Mar 2011

Federal Earmarks In The State Of Georgia, Jeffrey Lazarus

Georgia Journal of Public Policy

Earmarks have been controversial ever since becoming a prominent part of the congressional spending process. Critics charge that earmarks fund projects with little or no economic value (for instance Ted Stevens’ “Bridge to Nowhere,”) but instead allow Congress members to direct government spending to campaign contributors (the charge leading to a federal investigation of the now-defunct lobbying firm PMA Group). On the other side of the controversy, congressional earmarks do fund a number of community improvements which are very valuable, at least locally. In Georgia, the fiscal 2010 appropriations bills included earmarks which allocated $450,000 to update College Park’s emergency …