The Guyton Police Department got a pat on the back at the city council meeting Tuesday night.

Joe Powers, a sixth-generation Guyton resident, praised the department for eradicating the city’s drug problem and improving traffic safety.

“Before we had the police, the drug problem was getting bad,” he said.

Powers, a retired teacher, said cars and logging trucks used to fly by his house at 90 mph, only slowing down to 70 as they approached the flashing light at the intersection of Highways 17 and 119.

“They would get to the stop sign, and it was really just a tap and go,” he said.

Powers noted the many accidents that have happened at the crossroad and said a logging truck skidded 200 yards, hit his driveway and continued another 50 yards before crashing.

“And the Guyton police have put an end to that,” he said of the excessive speeding. “People drive by and wave to me, rather than drive by at 90 mph. I think that is wonderful.”

Powers said that when he was a teacher, he often gave students rides home, but there were sections of town they were afraid to go into.

“And now, it’s safe, in my opinion,” he said.

Powers thanked Alderman Dr. Brenda Lovett, with whom he worked while he was a teacher, for helping to establish the police department.