Lyons Police Chief Discusses the “Long Arm of the Law”

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Recently, Lyons Police Chief Wesley Walker discussed the “long arm of the law” and the collaborative efforts of law enforcement across the state and nation, as he reflected on the past year.

According to Walker, in 2023, two instances occurred which served as reminders of how law enforcement agencies from near and far come together to ensure that the public is protected and justice is served.

In one instance, a former Lyons business owner was being investigated in North Georgia for crimes he committed at his new business in Cleveland. “Some things had happened here [with former Lyons gym owner Joey Drew,] but then he moved to North Georgia. Some things happened there, and the police up there discovered it. He owned a gym here [as he did in North Georgia] and that’s kind of what kicked off an investigation into things that led to where we are.”

Because of these findings, the suspect is now facing charges for offenses which were uncovered in both Cleveland and Lyons. This month, he was formally indicted by the Toombs County Grand Jury for five counts of sexual exploitation of children and five counts of invasion of privacy. Drew now awaits trial.

“He moved all the way to White County, right there on the Tennessee state line and four to five hours away from here, but things there still led to an investigation here in Lyons where charges were filed and he’s been arrested,” Walker emphasized. “That’s the thing; law enforcement does work together really well like that. Even though we may be in different counties or cities, or even states, we all wear a badge and do a job. It makes it a lot easier when we all work together.”

Another instance that Walker recalled occurred when several fraudulent purchases were made online from the City of Lyons Verizon account after the account was hacked.

“The hacker ordered 18 tablets and charged it to the City,” he explained. “It was well over $23,000, so when a worker at Lyons City Hall discovered it, she called me. I went there to see what she had found, and we learned that some of the tablets were supposed to be delivered to a resident in Pennsylvania.”

Walker contacted the law enforcement agency in the City for the recipient’s address, who put him in contact with an officer working on patrol that day in the Pennsylvania location. “I explained to him what was going on and asked him to ride by the residence to see if he could make contact with the person [the order was being delivered to] and see if he knew anything about the tablets,” Walker said.

He continued, “In a lot of places, they’re busy, they have their own things they have to deal with, so they take the information and tell you that they will look into it. But he (the officer in Pennsylvania) went above and beyond. He told me to give him a few minutes and he would call me back. In those few minutes, he went to the residence, made contact with the guy, and found out all kinds of information. Everything really blew up from there.”

With the information gathered, the officer and Walker worked together to contact the area’s UPS distribution office, which allowed them to intercept the delivery of all of the tablets but one, which was delivered to the resident in Pennsylvania. Because of having already spoken with law enforcement, the resident immediately notified his local police department upon the delivery, which allowed offices to seize the device and have it, along with the other intercepted devices, returned to Verizon so that the City of Lyons would not be charged for the purchase.

“So, with the help of a small agency in Pennsylvania, we saved the taxpayers of the City of Lyons $23,000,” Walker remarked. “So, that’s just another example of how law enforcement works together. When things like that fall into place, it makes your job easier.”

One way which Walker has been able to make these connections to help in the collaborative work of justice is his involvement with the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police. He has served on the Association’s Executive Board for six years, and said that those years are what he considers to be the highlight of his career.

“I have made so many contacts and connections throughout our state and other states that I still call upon today. Things will come up from time to time that I don’t know how to handle, so I call someone for advice or to talk about their experience with the issue,” he explained. “Being on that board has given me resources to reach out, so that helps me perform my job better, as well.”

Currently, Walker serves as the Association’s State Agency Chiefs of Police representative (SACOP). “I represent the Georgia police chiefs when they have meetings and events each year,” he clarified.

He was appointed to the position by the Association’s current president Mark Scott, who took office this past July and is serving a one-year term. “I was thankful and humbled that he chose me out of all the chiefs in the state that he could pick,” Walker commented on the appointment. “I’ve known Mark for a long time. We used to work together years ago, and sat on the Executive Board together. We’ve stayed friends throughout the years.”

In October, he represented the state’s police chiefs at the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) in San Diego, California. “It was very cool. I had never been to California,” Walker said. “I had a vision in my head of what I thought California was going to be like, and it was nothing like what I expected.”

The trip marked Walker’s second time attending an IACP conference, which gathers over 800 police chiefs from across the nation annually to gain contacts and training for their departments. “The first conference I went to was in Chicago. I attended it during my term as the President of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police,” he clarified. “The IACP is so much larger than our state association. They really do it up right. They have some really good training courses and bring in people from all over the world to teach them. They really take care of the chiefs.”

In addition to the training, attendees of the conference were treated to a night out on the town, during which several conference vendors rented out several restaurants downtown where the police chiefs could enjoy food and drinks for free. “Three blocks were blocked off for just the chiefs to enjoy,” he recalled. “The restaurants even set up tables outside on the sidewalks like a buffet. You could just go by and fix a plate. They had tables and entertainment set up. It was amazing to be treated so well.”

Walker is unsure what the future will hold for the SACOP position, as his current appointment will end in July. Then, the new Association president may choose to reappoint him or choose another representative. Either way, Walker said he will continue to enjoy the time he has served and make more connections so that he may continue to exercise “the long arm of the law.”