Walker County Sheriff's Office

Special Operations

The Walker County Sheriff's Office, Special Operations Group (S.O.G.) is an elite, highly-trained, twenty-six man unit, comprised of deputies from the other divisions of the Sheriff Office.

The S.O.G. is made up of an all-volunteer corp. that must undergo a rigorous training and selection process.

Once selected for Special Operations duty, there is an advanced training schedule the deputy must participate in above the normal departmental training schedule.

The S.O.G. deputies are on-call 24/7 year around in the event of emergencies. This is an extra duty assignment beyond their regular duties and they receive no extra pay for Special Operations Service.

The S.O.G. deputies do receive advanced level training in Specialized Weapons, Negotiation skills, Emergency Medical Training, Land-Navigation, Explosives, Chemical Weapons, Less-Lethal Weapons, Search & Rescue, Off-Road Vehicles, Defensive Tactics, and Small Unit Tactics.

The Walker county Sheriff's Office, Special Operations Group was organized in 1998 and went operational in 1999. Since that time, the S.O.G. has been deployed numerous times to apprehend dangerous felons, serve high-risk warrants, support Drug Task Force operations, aid neighboring agencies, conduct prolonged surveillance missions, and resolve barricaded suspect/hostage calls.

Included in the twenty-six man detachment is a six man, tactically trained, Medical Corp. This team is composed of two Doctors, One Registered Nurse, and three Paramedics.

Along with an accelerated operational tempo, the S.O.G. performs many civic duties. The unit regularly visits the local school systems for Career Days and to give safety lectures. During the tornado disaster of 2011, elements of the S.O.G. were detached to neighboring counties to assist in Search & Rescue Operations, the recovery of deceased persons, and to augment those local agencies in their efforts to prevent further property loss from theft.

The S.O.G. also provides Tactical Training to other agencies. Over the past five years, the Walker County S.O.G. has provided a two-week Basic S.W.A.T. School. This school has been free of charge to the participating agencies and has drawn students from the entire Southeastern United States.

The S.O.G. has also been requested and has traveled to other agencies throughout Georgia to provide Tactical Training to those requesting agencies.

The Special Operations Group Deputies pride themselves on being quiet professionals. They train to operate in the worst crisis situations and to resolve those incidents as quickly and peacefully as possible.