MARIETTA - There are 129 gangs in Cobb County with an estimated 1,429 associates, according to the county's Criminal Apprehension and Gang Enforcement Unit.

Speaking at a Monday forum with leaders of Cobb's religious communities, Cobb Police Chief Mike Register said it will take everybody's help to deal with Cobb's gang problem.

Register invited the local faith leaders to the Cobb Civic Center to discuss ways they might help the police keep Cobb's children out of gangs. He said he hopes to hear what they are doing to alleviate gang issues and potentially partner up or emulate the programs.

A HEATED EXCHANGE!

Marietta Councilman-elect Reggie Copeland, who is the pastor of House of Hope Church International, caused some friction when he criticized a previous faith forum in which he said religious leaders were cut off before they finished speaking.

Copeland rose from the audience and spoke after the comment section had ended and the closing prayer was about to begin. He said many pastors were offended by the previous meeting and chose not to attend because of it.

"If you look around the room today, there are a whole lot of pastors who are not here, and there is a reason why ... I think it's terrible if you invite pastors to come be part of a dialogue, a robust discussion, and then you cut off the discussion at the end and what needs to be heard is not heard," Copeland said. "So I'd like to suggest to you and the pastors here, next time, come to the community. Let's go to one of the churches."

Register, who was previously police chief in Clayton County, said he has an open-door policy at his office and welcomed Copeland to visit, but he did not agree to hold the next forum in a church.

"You pastors are the hardest people to get along with sometimes," Register said with a laugh. "I'm going to tell you why. I went to a church in my time in Clayton. Everybody got mad because I went to that church and didn't go to the other church."

Register said he thinks he and Copeland are in agreement about the need for dialogue between the police and the community. After Copeland spoke, Register came down from the stage and hugged Copeland.

At several points during his comments, Copeland compared the relationship between the police and the faith community with a romantic relationship. Copeland said he feels the police want to rush into marriage, but Copeland feels the relationship needs a longer dating phase, which he said requires honesty on both sides.

"I don't want you to feel like everything I'm saying is negative, but if we can't heal the relationship, there's not going to be a marriage," Copeland said.

The two men spoke at length after the meeting. Copeland said afterward that he was heartened by listening to Register.

"Chief Register said that he is open, and we're certainly here together," Copeland said. "I've been to every one of the faith forums, and he's a good man, and we're here to support."

 TUESDAY NIGHT TUTORING (T.N.T.)

T.N.T. has restarted with the new 2017-2018 school year.  Join our tutors on Tuesday from 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm at the Cathedral.  Tutors will provide homework support with Math & Science.  Tutors are available for 6th grade Math, Algebra I & II, Geometry, and/or Science.  If your child is in need of assistance other than what is offered, please contact:

Philip Norris at [email protected] or 

Nathaniel Howard at [email protected]. 

Turner Chapel AME Church Marietta, GA

CCRPI Scores Move Up Again at Clay Elementary School

Clay Elementary School announced recently that they moved from 65.9 CCRPI score in 2016 to a 71.7 CCRPI score in 2017 ( up 12.5 since 2015). CCRPI (the College and Career Readiness Performance Index) is a comprehensive school improvement, accountability, and communication score that reflects students' college and career readiness. For our community, this trend is an important indicator of school improvement. This accomplishment is due to the efforts of students, staff, parents, community and school district.