Hudson named Clarkston police chief

Christine Hudson has been appointed the new police chief for the city of Clarkston, city manager Keith Barker said. Hudson joined the Clarkston Police Department in 2009 as a lieutenant and was promoted to captain prior to serving a brief period as the interim police chief. She replaces former chief Tony Scipio, who recently retired.

Hudson began her career with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office in 1983. She left the Sheriff’s Office to work as a patrol officer for the City of Decatur Police Department. During her tenure in Decatur, she was promoted to the rank of police major. In 1991, the Georgia Women in Law Enforcement named her an “honoree” for the DeKalb County Officer of the year program. That same year she was honored by the Georgia Bar Association as “Officer of the Year” for DeKalb County. She has also co-authored an article titled “A Small City’s Approach to a Big Drug Problem,” published in Law and Order magazine.

In February 2005, Hudson went to Baghdad, Iraq to train Iraqi police. While there Hudson became a team leader to the American contractors who worked with the Iraqi major general in charge of internal affairs for all of Iraq.

Man sentenced in vehicular homicide case

James Miles pleaded guilty Feb. 2 to vehicular homicide charges and was sentenced to five years, to serve two years in a prison work release program. DeKalb State Court Judge Johnny Panos sentenced Miles, who also has to perform 240 hours of community service, attend three victim impact panels and attend a defensive driving course. The court ordered Miles’ license to be suspended for five years as a condition of his sentence. 

Miles pleaded guilty to charges relating to an accident in which the Dodge Stratus he was driving struck a commuter van, causing it to crash on Stone Mountain Freeway. Three Southern Company employees died in the crash and six others were injured. Miles also pleaded guilty to reckless driving, following too closely, failure to maintain lane, and improper lane change.