Oconee County Sheriff’s Office Launches ACT Hotline

Are you used to dialing 9-1-1 for emergencies? The Oconee County Sheriff’s office has created an outlet for reporting threats, specifically online.

UGA student and president of the black theatrical ensemble, Kimarah Laurent says she sees suspicious activity on social media often. She’s even been a victim of onine threats.Laurent said, “Social media is like used for so many great things, but there are some issues that go on with social threats and things like that to people.”

That’s exactly why Lee Weems, Chief Deputy of Oconee County Sheriff’s office, said the goal of this hotline is to give people a way to call or text a number specifically designed to track threats on social media.

Chris Beaty, a junior at U-G-A likes the idea of this new hotline. Beaty said, “I feel like its nice to know I have a number to call, an outlet to use when it’s not as serious to call 9-1-1.”

Deputy Sheriff Lee Weems wants to stress how that this new ACT Line is not a substitute for calling 9-1-1. What that means is if there is an incident in progress, dial 9-1-1.

But if you see a threatening social media post on your mobile phone, you can take a screen shot of the threat and then just text it to the ACT number.

By Ayanna Craig