DEMOREST, Ga. — Habersham County Schools is citing Georgia law and a recent appeals court decision to defend an off-campus traffic stop by a school police officer. However, questions remain about the officer’s authority and why the stop ended without a citation, a written warning, a county deputy, or a detailed report.
Assistant Superintendent David Leenman told Now Georgia in an email that Officer Victoria Hopper was driving to Habersham Central High School shortly after 7 a.m. Aug. 13, when a blue Subaru crossed a double-yellow line into oncoming traffic to pass her marked patrol vehicle.
Leenman said Hopper activated her blue lights and stopped the car on Habersham Mills Road near Bethel Temple Road. The driver reportedly apologized and said he was late picking up his wife from work.
Hopper checked the driver’s license through Habersham County Dispatch, warned him about passing in a no-passing zone, and continued toward Habersham Central around 7:09 a.m., Leenman said. Dispatch records previously obtained by Now Georgia document the stop at 7:06 a.m. and identify Hopper as a Board of Education unit.
School system cites Georgia case
Leenman said Georgia law allows a certified officer who witnesses a crime or immediate driving danger to make a traffic stop outside the officer’s normal jurisdiction. He cited State v. Collins, saying an officer acting outside the jurisdiction may make a stop but cannot continue a lengthy investigation or make a custodial arrest.
The 2025 Georgia Court of Appeals decision involved a Holly Springs municipal police officer who encountered a suspected impaired driver outside the city limits. The court ruled that Georgia law allowed the officer to stop the driver and continue the DUI investigation outside the city.
However, Collins involved a municipal police officer, not a school police officer.
Georgia law separately states that school security personnel authorized by a board of education have the same law-enforcement powers as county or municipal officers “on school property.” Another statute allows certain officers to act outside their normal jurisdictions when they personally witness an offense, while also recognizing other legal limits on an officer’s authority.
A regional criminal defense attorney who reviewed Leenman’s explanation for Now Georgia said Collins does not, by itself, resolve whether a school police officer may independently conduct traffic enforcement away from school property.
The attorney also questioned why, after stopping what the school system described as a “dangerous driving hazard,” Hopper did not contact an agency with recognized jurisdiction to handle the matter.
The stop ended without a citation, written warning, request for a sheriff’s deputy or conventional incident report explaining the officer’s actions away from campus.
Those circumstances do not prove the stop was illegal, the attorney said. However, they make the school system’s explanation difficult to evaluate without body-camera footage, dash-camera video or other records showing what occurred.
Normal protocol
Habersham County Sheriff Robin Krockum previously told Now Georgia that an officer from another agency who witnesses a violation in his jurisdiction would normally contact an on-duty deputy, explain what happened, and make the stop at the deputy’s request while a county unit responds.
Krockum said his office has no report, email, or other documentation showing that occurred during the Aug. 13 stop.
The incident has prompted questions about school police coverage during the morning arrival period. Parent Lacrecia Burton questioned why an officer assigned to Habersham Central was involved in an unrelated traffic stop miles from campus during morning arrival.
“I have a child at the school that she’s assigned to so I find it very alarming that she’s not there protecting my child or any children for that matter,” Burton wrote on Now Georgia’s Facebook page.
Others have reported seeing Hopper off campus after 7 a.m. on school days, although it is unclear whether those instances were outside her normal work hours.
Retired Gainesville Police Deputy Chief Kevin Gaddis argued that Habersham Schools should return to the previous model of having the Sheriff’s Office provide school law-enforcement services through an agreement with the district.
“The school system does not need a police department,” Gaddis wrote before calling for the department to be disbanded. Gaddis retired after 29 years with Gainesville Police.
The off-campus traffic stop and BOE Police Department’s questionable enforcement of a school bus stop-arm camera ticketing program led Sheriff Krockum to suspend the reserve-deputy status of Hopper and her supervisor, School Police Chief Murray Kogod. The sheriff’s office, county, and school district are now said to be reviewing their mutual operational agreements.
Regarding the traffic stop — after being unable to reach him by phone — Now Georgia emailed the assistant superintendent a series of follow-up questions asking why no county deputy was requested, why no citation or written warning was issued, whether a report was written documenting the stop, and whether body-camera or dash-camera footage exists.
As of publication, Leenman had not responded.
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