Brett Dickey was shot in line of duty in 1996
Last Saturday morning, Gilmer Sheriff’s officers marked the 25th anniversary of the death of Deputy Brett Dickey, killed in the line of duty Feb. 13, 1996.
Pouring rain did not deter the officers from joining members of Dickey’s family and the general public to honor his life and service near a monument for the fallen policeman outside the Gilmer County Courthouse.
A red, white and blue wreath was placed at the memorial marker where Sheriff Stacy Nicholson and an honor guard of sheriff’s office personnel stood at salute as “Taps” was played by guest bugler Bill Hall.
“Feb. 13, 1996 -— I will never, ever forget that date,” said Nicholson at the service. “My wish is, (for) those that didn’t know Brett, (that you will) tell your kids who Brett Dickey was. He made the ultimate sacrifice for citizens of this county and the state of Georgia.”
‘Focus, today, on the good’
Dickey was shot and killed while serving a warrant on fugitive Tommy Pickren, wanted by Forsyth County police for slashing a woman in the face, thus violating his parole.
Dickey and Nicholson, then the sheriff’s department’s chief investigator, were among the officers who went to serve the warrant. They rode in the same car to a mobile home on Highway 282, where Pickren was found.
“We were all running late for when we were supposed to be home,” Nicholson remembered. “I had a cellphone (and) I asked Brett, ‘do you want to use my phone to call?’ He had that peaceful smile and said, ‘No, it’ll be all right. We’ll be done in a little while.’”
Dickey was shot as the officers attempted to apprehend the fleeing fugitive.
According to a 2016 Times-Courier article by Mark Millican that explored the shooting and its aftermath, Dickey wore a bulletproof vest, but a bullet fired by Pickren, who was fighting with another officer, struck and killed Dickey as the deputy raised his arms. He was only 30 years old.
“This event touched and changed all our lives. Where we are now, we are double where we were in 1996. We were (a) very small (department then), and we were a family,” Nicholson said.
“There are several of us here today that were there when Brett was killed,” he continued. “For years, I don’t think many of us talked about it much to anyone except for possibly each other, and very little at that. For many years (around Feb. 13), I would relive that event in my dreams. I know that others have had, and may still have, similar situations in their own lives.”
At the scene, Dickey’s partner, Deputy Mark Sanford, was shot in the leg, a severe injury that proved disabling.
“He survived, but he’s had to live with that every day since,” Nicholson said, noting that Sanford attended the ceremony, as did Dickey’s widow, Cindy, and his parents, Joe and Mary Jo Dickey.
“His son is in the Army and could not get leave to be there,” the sheriff said.
Nicholson also recognized former Murray County Sheriff Howard Ensley, now a Gilmer Sheriff’s employee, and former Gordon County Sheriff Sid Roberts, both of whom also attended the service.
“They and their deputies ran the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office for the next few days until we could get it back together. That made an impression on me,” he said.
Nicholson shared that it took a lot of time for him to focus on good memories of the time he got to spend with Dickey.
“There was a lot of focus in my mind on all the bad that had happened. It took a while for me to realize that there’s so much good memories of Brett to not focus on (those). I want to focus, today, on the good,” he said Saturday.
According to Millican’s 2016 article, before becoming a police officer, Dickey, who enjoyed hunting, fishing and spending time in the great outdoors, worked as a forest field tech for Auburn University and had a Toccoa River guide service with close friend, Jake Davenport.
One of the good memories that Nicholson shared at the service was going on a backpacking trip in the Cohutta Wilderness with Dickey, detention officer Davenport and Eldridge Harper, a Gilmer policeman also on duty when Dickey was killed.
“(It’s) one of my fondest memories now, (but) I hated it at the time. That was the first time I’d ever been to Cohutta, and it was absolutely the last time I will ever be to Cohutta. We left in short-sleeves, got to the top of the mountain and were walking in snow. We walked (back down) the mountain and were back in springtime weather,” Nicholson remembered.
“It was a good memory and I cherish it.”
‘Every year, in this spot, at this time’
The sheriff’s office began holding a public memorial service for Dickey in recent years at the monument, which had previously been at both the old and current county jail. It now sits just outside the courthouse’s front entrance.
The service will continue to be held in coming years, rain or shine, Nicholson noted.
“We honor him today, 25 years later, and we will continue to do that every year in this spot, at this time,” said Scotty Davis, chaplain for the sheriff’s office, when speaking Saturday.
“I hope that what we try to do, in some way, gives some comfort or peace to the family. I feel like it’s our responsibility to honor Brett’s memory every year,” said Nicholson.
Before leading prayer to conclude the service, Davis took a moment to speak directly to young people in attendance.
“I’m delighted to see children here today,” he said.
“I want to tell you we are here honoring a man who is a hero because he served this county and this community, serving and protecting you and your parents as they grew up. It is a great honor to serve in law enforcement. You may hear other things said by people who don’t know. You may hear words on the news that dishonor law enforcement, but these men and women give their lives. This is one who paid the ultimate price in serving this community.”
Pickren is currently serving a life sentence without parole, Nicholson confirmed.