A longtime agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Dustin Hamby, has been promoted to special agent in charge of the Region 1 Investigation Office in Calhoun, a GBI release has announced. Region 1 is composed of 12 counties in northwest Georgia.
“Dustin Hamby has dedicated 25 years to serving the citizens of Georgia with professionalism and integrity,” said GBI Director Chris Hosey. “His career has been defined by steady leadership and a strong commitment to public service. His experience in both narcotics enforcement and major case investigations makes him an excellent choice.”
Hamby grew up in the Woodstock/Cherokee County area and graduated Etowah High School in 1996. He attained his degree in criminal justice at North Georgia College.
While speaking about his career, Hamby said there have been several cases he’s worked on that have stood out, but two that “come to mind the most” are a 7-year-old girl who was molested and “brutally murdered” in Canton in 2011 by a maintenance man at an apartment complex — “the worst child murder I’ve ever worked” — and the case of a female hiker who was abducted on Blood Mountain in 2008 and murdered.
“A lot of the child molestation and sexual abuse cases I’ve worked didn’t get a lot of media attention,” noted Hamby. “But you hope that you provide the families of the victims with closure and some form of justice. I went to trial on many of those cases, and murder cases as well. To see one of those cases, which are very hard to prove a lot of times, where the offender is held accountable, is probably one of the most satisfying things I’ve done in my career on a consistent basis.”
In that regard, Hamby was asked about victim advocacy offices that have become prominent in the last couple of decades.
“I think it’s extremely important in any type of case, but especially when you’re talking about crimes against children and persons cases, that that family is looked out after and guided by the prosecution,” he said. “Bu, not only that. As a case agent with the GBI, I like for me and the agents who work for me to establish a relationship with the victims when you’re going through the court system and the prosecution of the case.
“For the district attorney’s office in the Applalachian Judicial Circuit (Gilmer, Fannin, Pickens) and the DA’s offices in northwest Georgia, victim advocacy is a priority for them, to make sure that those victims and their families are taken care of and notified of court hearings. Because for the most part, a lot of people don’t understand how the court system works. It’s extremely important for victims to have a guide and an adovcate for them to walk them through that process.”