Five Effingham County Sheriff’s Deputy, two Effingham Fire & Rescue Trucks and a rescue squad brought Guyton Police Officers to the scene of a reported home invasion where the body of a woman was found on the ground on Christmas Eve.
It’s the latest chapter in the saga of the 24/7 police agency being touted by city officials, and follows a report by GPD that touted “less crime” due to “heavy,” “concentrated,” and “increased” patrols conducted less than two weeks previously.
“People don’t know, but we’ve been running full-time since October last year. Even in the middle of the night when you don’t see us, we’re out there. That helps us deter crime.”
James Breletic, Guyton Police Chief, to The Effingham Herald in May 2022
Home invasion reported on Poplar Street
According to public records obtained Tuesday afternoon, the 911 emergency number received a call just before 11:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve. The 911 caller, a neighbor, reported that a man from the scene of the Poplar Street incident knocked on his door to say that the door of the apartment building in question “appeared to have been kicked in”. The 911 Narrative Log shows a woman lying on the floor with blood on the bed.
As 911 dispatchers worked to activate first responders, it was again discovered that no police officers were working within Guyton city limits, again contradicting testimonies from Guyton Police Chief James Breletic, who claimed that the city had a 24-hour around the clock manned police station operates.
As the case was referred to the GBI, no further information was released. Monday was a public holiday so it is unlikely an autopsy was performed and the exact cause of the woman’s death is unknown.
A familiar tale
The plot of Christmas Eve mirrors a similar incident in June 2022 when Guyton PD was AWOL when a murder occurred on Brogdon Road. The December 2022 incident reflects a remarkable response time of an additional seventeen minutes compared to the already long twenty-minute response time in June.
For reference, Guyton city limits total 3.2 square miles, while Effingham County covers 478 square miles. ECSO deputies are assigned to zones (or districts) within the county for patrol purposes. Guyton PD officers work in random bursts and often not at all. An inspection of radio traffic for Guyton PD in October revealed that almost 70% of the time there was no Guyton police officer on the radio.
During the December 13 Guyton City Council meeting, Chief James Breletic told the council that the Police Department had responded to 402 emergency calls. Of these, 71 were law enforcement calls initiated by the public. The city’s police department budget of $631,700 means that every time the police respond to an 911 call from someone in Guyton, it costs taxpayers $8,897.18.
“We’ve had a lot of focus over the last month because of the upcoming Christmas activities and high patrols in the area, which has resulted in reduced crime.” Breletic didn’t mention what the PD was heavily focused on.
The boss reports to the council about the “service calls”:
| Direct Patrol | 136 |
| premise checks | 47 |
| traffic stops | 72 |
In addition, there were 3 fire calls and 1 weather report.
