After 26 years with the Fulton County Police Department, Steve Rose retired -- for just a few hours. His leisure time ended the very next day when he joined the Sandy Springs police force as it took over operations from Fulton in 2006.
The transition wasn’t difficult for the veteran officer who was already well acquainted with the community.
“I spent most of my career in Sandy Springs,” recalled Rose, 59. “I came here at the end of 1979, and with the exception of about two years downtown, I spent most of my time on the northern end.”
As a captain who specializes in community affairs, Rose is part of a force with 129 sworn officers and 15 civilian staffers who are making a daily difference.
“It’s good to see how a community that was starved for public safety a few years ago has come together, and to know you had something to do with it is great,” said Rose, who was a member of the task force that structured the department. “Our crime numbers are down; our morale is good; we have very low turnover. It’s been a complete turnaround.”
The story of police and fire services in Sandy Springs hasn't always been so positive. Long before the current departments were established, as far back as earliest days of a rural, agricultural settlement along the Chattahoochee River, ordinary citizens shouldered the burden of caring for the community. “The Heroes of Sandy Springs,” a detailed exhibit at the Heritage Sandy Springs museum, tells that story.
The display, which is open to the public through Wednesday, is the brainchild of curator Kimberly Brigance.
“We wanted to share information about people who came together and formed their own brigades and did their own policing,” said Brigance. “It’s an amazing story that goes back to the early 1800s.”
The two front rooms of the house museum on Sandy Springs Circle are filled with memorabilia, artifacts and documents, including a mannequin attired in SWAT gear as well as Rose’s old Fulton County police badges, nightstick and shirt. From the firefighters, Brigance collected jackets, helmets, axes and hoses.
Some of the most captivating items on display are images taken in January 1959 of the blaze that destroyed the old Hammond School that used to stand on Mt. Vernon Road.
“Before that, citizens just got together and responded to every emergency in Sandy Springs,” said Brigance. “It wasn’t until the school fire that we got more county services and stations in Sandy Springs. That fire was horrific; there are older firefighters living here who still talk about how their feet were frozen into their shoes.”
Brigance collected many tales of personal bravery and heroics that took place well before the present-day force was in place.
“These were people who volunteered their time and even pooled their money to get a fire engine,” she said. “They’ve been here a long time, and they have a great story to tell.”
Heroes of Sandy Springs
The story of policing and firefighting in Sandy Springs runs through Wednesday at the Heritage Sandy Springs Museum, 6075 Sandy Springs Circle. Admission is $1-$3. For information on times, call 404-851-9111, or go to www.heritagesandysprings.org.
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