Emphatically no, Victor Hill should not be excused. He should be treated just like anyone else who was caught doing the same thing. He has gotten by all these years because of his minions here in Clayton County protecting him. It is time to make him pay for what he has done. We need to get rid of him and his minions so this county can start recovering to what it used to be and what it can become again. — Lanelle LaRue
With regard to your request for comments about Victor Hill’s current criminal charges, he should absolutely be prosecuted. Of all people, a police officer and certainly a Sheriff, should never be in a situation where he is responsible for an accidental discharge of his weapon. This is especially true if the situation is as reported that he was practing safety tactics. A woman was seriously injured and could have been killed.
The sheriff should certainly be held to the same standards as everyone else and quite frankly, he should be held to a higher standard since he is not only a public official but a law enforcement official who is given much discretion, leeway and training at public expense. He should have known better and should now face the consequences of his actions. —
Dennis Bickham
Mr. Hill should be held to even higher expectations on use of guns, since has has been trained (by whom?) in correct gun use and safety!
Unless you are VP of the US, or a Georgia Insurance Commissioner, you should be held responsible for shooting someone! — Ginger Marine
He should be treated like any other person, who shot someone, would be.
He did receive preferential treatment. He was allowed to leave the scene without comment, and he has had plenty of time to get his 'story' straight, as well as possibly threaten the victim. As an 'officer of the law', he should actually be held to a higher standard. I don't care what he was doing with that gun. He should know better than to play with guns. And who knows what really happened. So I say he should be held accountable — not just to the court, but to the people he is supposed to serve. — Elizabeth
Dionne Kinch for the AJC
On April 25 a car driven by Lakeside High student Ramiro Pedemonte was going over 100 mph on Decatur’s Scott Boulevard when it struck a car driven by Lakeside teacher Leah O’Brien, killing her instantly.
The tragedy left the community reeling, but it also highlighted the decades-long frustration with the posted 40 mph speed limit on that road. Although it’s Decatur’s fastest, city leaders and residents have discussed lowering speed limits throughout the city.
This has been a particular concern for Assistant City Manager David Junger, who’s spent the last few years wading through the Georgia Department of Transportation’s red tape. If a street is designated “non-residential” a driver can go up to 11 mph over the speed limit before getting a ticket.
Junger wants all speed limits “residential,” making one mph over a violation.
One reason it takes so long getting limits lowered in a city, or neighborhood, or even a single street is, according to Junger, the DOT’s 85/15 test. Essentially, a limit is determined safe if 85 percent of the drivers measured over a given span adhere to the stated speed.
But drivers on Scott test the limits. Between Jan., 2013 and April, 2015, police issued 5,177 speeding tickets citywide and over 60 percent were on Scott Boulevard.
But the city can’t do anything but issue citations on that state-owned street. It can’t lower speed limits nor implement traffic-calming devices like cutting it from four to two lanes or building medians.
Junger believes the city can work out solutions with the DOT—including some remedies for Scott—although they won’t come anytime soon. He figures to spend the better part of this year alone compiling a spread sheet of those local roads eligible for 25 mph.
So what should Decatur do about the speeding problem on Scott Boulevard? We want to hear from you. Send e-mail to communitynews@ajc.com.
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