Georgia port police would be granted more power under bill passed by Legislature

Caption

A Georgia Ports Authority police truck is parked at the Port of Savannah's Garden City Terminal.

Credit: Georgia Ports Authority Police Department

The Georgia Ports Authority Police Department would expand its jurisdiction and powers, if a bill passed unanimously Monday by the Georgia Senate is signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp.

GPAPD officers would be able to make arrests for violations of state law at the ports of Savannah and Brunswick, as well as on any public and private property within 1 mile from the ports. It would also extend arrest powers to offsite property owned by the Georgia Ports Authority.

Currently, officers can make arrests only at the ports themselves, and only when dock-related city ordinances are violated.

Sen. Ben Watson, a Republican from Savannah, said that the main impetus behind the bill is to enable officers to respond to and investigate motor vehicle crashes.

“Mostly it is a traffic issue at their gates,” Watson said. “As you can imagine, they have hundreds of trucks in and out there. And at times, there are accidents.”

Watson said that crashes are usually handled by the Port Wentworth Police Department, which he described as overextended: whereas GPAPD has 30 to 40 officers on duty at any given time, he said, Port Wentworth only has three to five officers on duty.

Beyond just traffic violations, the bill would also allow port police to “make initial inquiries” into suspected crimes involving any violation of state law within 1 mile of the ports.

An earlier House version passed that chamber overwhelmingly in February, 164-2.

“There is nothing nefarious in this bill,” said Rep. Al Williams, a Democrat from Liberty County, during that chamber's debate. “The communities that surround the portion of the port that it's in are primarily African American communities. And, far too often, something comes up that hurts those communities. This is not the case. This bill has been well vetted.”

Supporters have also said that the Georgia Ports Authority and surrounding police departments all support the bill.

“There are a lot of valuable assets there,” said Rep. Matt Reeves, a Republican from Duluth. “And this bill will help it from ever becoming a soft target that's attractive for people who want to do harm to our critical infrastructure.”

The bill states that offsite arrests should be made by GPAPD officers only if a local law enforcement from the primary jurisdiction is not “readily available” and if the officer “reasonably believes that a failure to act could result in the commission of a criminal act or the escape of a person who has committed a criminal act.”