A six-figure public safety grant awarded to the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) is now drawing scrutiny over a basic but explosive question: where did the taxpayer-funded equipment go?
Records obtained by Now Georgia show the $100,000 grant was awarded to HCSO for law enforcement training, yet many of the documents tied to the funding repeatedly reference GASROE, a nonprofit organization long connected to former Habersham officials and former Colonel Murray Kogod, who now leads the Habersham County Schools Police Department.
The paper trail raises troubling questions almost immediately.
Although the grant’s stated purpose centered on use-of-force and de-escalation training, supporting records reviewed by Now Georgia place heavy emphasis on the Georgia Alliance of School Resource Officers and Educators (GASROE), GASROE School Safety Summit (GS3) conference activities, and equipment purchases that appear to have benefited that nonprofit’s training events. Kogod’s name appears throughout the application, purchasing records, and follow-up correspondence, placing him at the center of a funding stream that now deserves far closer examination.
Raising serious concerns is not just how the money was justified, but also about where the equipment appears to have ended up.
Habersham County Sheriff Robin Krockum told Now Georgia he has not seen the Inveris Shooting Simulator purchased for more than $60,000 since taking office and understands it is in GASROE’s possession. He also said audio and visual equipment bought with the same grant is not at the sheriff’s office.
The situation reached a head recently as local leadership demanded accountability. Habersham County Officials demanded that Sheriff Krockum confront HCSS Police Kogod about the missing equipment on Friday morning. Krockum met Kogod at the Raider Stadium this morning to do just that. When asked about the equipment, Kogod admitted to having it and asked for time to get it all returned as it was located in multiple places.
If county grant funds purchased public assets, why were those assets allegedly being used elsewhere?
In a key interview, former Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell said he believed the grant was meant to support statewide SRO training through GASROE, with Kogod leading the administrative side. Yet Terrell also made clear he never authorized Kogod to remove the equipment, underscoring a growing conflict with the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council’s (CJCC’s) position that the grant was not a pass-through and that the equipment remained county property.
The questions widen with later spending.
Records show a $16,000 order for banners, displays, and other promotional materials tied largely to GASROE branding was billed through county channels after the grant period and after Kogod was no longer employed by HCSO. Emails reviewed by Now Georgia suggest pressure to complete grant-related ordering even after deadlines had apparently passed. Those documents add to broader concerns about whether public money, public purchasing systems, and public offices were used to support a nonprofit operation in ways the public was never meant to see.
The mounting pressure.
As of the release of this initial story, following the meeting between Kogod and Krockum, several items missing for years have been returned. Â At around 1 pm, Kogod reached out to the Sheriff’s Office and asked that a deputy come pick up some of the items at the school. Pictured below are what appear to be cases that would typically contain the shooting simulator, along with possibly some marketing materials and audio/visual equipment, though the contents have yet to be fully confirmed. Â What is still missing, according to the Now Georgia investigation, and what is not pictured, is a 24″ iMac computer attained with grant funding.
Now Georgia‘s full investigation goes deeper, with interviews, grant records, receipts, email trails, and agency responses that may help explain who approved the spending, who controlled the assets, and whether state grant rules were followed.
This isn’t the first time scrutiny has been raised regarding GASROE and HCBOE Police Chief Kogod. Â Now Georgia covered questions surrounding his appointment back in 2023.
Local county officials agree that what has already surfaced is enough to demand more than curiosity; it demands answers.
