One of the most unique Vipers to ever patrol the streets of America belongs to the Camden County Sheriff’s Office in southeast Georgia. The national award-winning Viper is used to teach young people about the dangers of drugs and other crime prevention programs.

It all began back in March 1987 when one of the Camden deputies made a traffic stop on Interstate 95. This traffic stop led to the arrest of a subject wanted on outstanding warrants in another state and charges of trafficking a controlled substance. As a result of the arrest, the vehicle the subject was driving, a 1984 Pontiac Trans-Am, and a substantial amount of money were seized. Lt. Bruce Nelson had an idea on how to put the seized money and the seized vehicle to a positive use. His idea, which was derived from the popular television show "Knight Rider", was to use the seized money to purchase an electronic system that would bring the car to life and make it talk like "Kit" from the show. The car could then be used to help educate young people about the dangers of drugs. So with the blessing of Sheriff Smith and after a long transformation from the stock Trans-Am, it was brought to life with some hard work and some pretty fancy electronics. The car could talk, crank up by itself, turn it’s blue lights on, wink it’s headlights, open it’s doors and drive by itself. Eventually even hydraulics were installed to make it dance.

The next question was what to call this electronic wonder. Lt. Nelson put the question to the youth of Camden County in the form of a contest. The contest netted hundreds of responses and the acronym, R.O.A.D. (Reach Out Against Drugs) Runner was chosen. Soon after its completion R.O.A.D. Runner was traveling all over the country doing programs and teaching kids to just say no to drugs.

Word of this talking police car program traveled fast and calls for appearances came in from all over the nation, even calls in 1991 from the White House and the Harlem Globetrotters. A program was presented to the White House staff and Lt. Nelson and R.O.A.D. Runner travelled with the Harlem Globetrotters to work with at-risk youth in the inner city areas of New York. After putting countless amounts of miles on the original R.O.A.D. Runner was given a well deserved retirement.

The original car was replaced with a white 1989 Trans-Am dubbed R.O.A.D. Runner Jr., but the road was not always as smooth for R.O.A.D. Runner. While on patrol in 1992 the car was involved in a high-speed car chase and was rear-ended by a fleeing suspect. The suspect slammed into the rear of R.O.A.D. Runner Jr. at more than 100 mph sending Lt. Nelson and R.O.A.D. Runner into a violent skid which resulted in a massive wreck. R.O.A.D. Runner Jr. received irreparable damage and Lt. Nelson suffered a broken neck and broken back. While recovering from injuries in the hospital, Lt. Nelson received hundreds of letters from area youth wishing him a speedy recovery. Lt. Nelson also received bunches of cards from youth inquiring about R.O.A.D. Runner Jr.’s welfare too.

Knowing that R.O.A.D. Runner Jr. was beyond repair and considering the positive impact the program had on youth, a search was launched in an effort to find a Trans-Am the same year, color and model as the wrecked one. The search was successful and the resurrection of R.O.A.D. Runner Jr. began. By the time Lt. Nelson had recovered and was ready to return to work, R.O.A.D. Runner Jr. was too. Before long Lt. Nelson and R.O.A.D. Runner Jr. were back in action educating young people and now they also had a new program to deliver. Lt. Nelson put together a program about the power of hope and took the inspiring program to hospitalized terminally ill patients. Lt. Nelson continued his work with project R.O.A.D. Runner for several more years until he departed from the Camden County Sheriff’s Office in 1995. After R.O.A.D. Runner Jr. began to show it’s age, a new Trans-Am was purchased with confiscated drug funds at no cost to the taxpayer. R.O.A.D. Runner III, a 1997 Pontiac Trans-Am WS6, was born to began its tour of duty with the Camden County Sheriff’s Office.

Capt. David Gregory is the current project coordinator for R.O.A.D. Runner. Capt. Gregory, who is also a D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) Instructor, incorparates R.O.A.D. Runner into his D.A.R.E. programs. In doing so, he has made R.O.A.D. Runner a huge hit with his D.A.R.E. students.

Capt. Gregory began to compete in car shows and D.A.R.E. car competitions all over with R.O.A.D. Runner. He won the Georgia State D.A.R.E. Car title four years in a row and countless other first place awards throughout with R.O.A.D. Runner III. In 2001 Capt. Gregory was named Georgia’s D.A.R.E. Officer of the Year at the annual Georgia D.A.R.E. Officer’s Training Conference. Sheriff Smith attended the award ceremony where a conversation came up about the age of R.O.A.D. Runner III. Sheriff Smith mentioned he wanted to purchase a new R.O.A.D. Runner. Sheriff Smith knew Capt. Gregory was a big fan of the Viper and asked if he would like a new Viper to replace the R.O.A.D. Runner III. With the purchase of a new 2001 deep sapphire blue Dodge Viper RT/10, and after giving the car a one of a kind custom hand paint job and adding all the R.O.A.D. Runner electronics and customization, R.O.A.D. Runner IV was born to begin it’s tour of duty with the Camden County Sheriff’s Office. The car and all the customization were paid for with seized drug funds at no cost to our taxpayers.

The first appearance of R.O.A.D. Runner IV was at the 2002 Georgia D.A.R.E. Officers’ Training Conference in Athens, Georgia. The Viper won it all, placing first in it’s class at the D.A.R.E. Car show and winning Best In Show overall. Capt. Gregory and Lt. William Terrell then hauled R.O.A.D. Runner IV to Las Vegas for the National D.A.R.E. Training Conference to compete in the Natioal D.A.R.E. Competition. When they arrived there were about 20 people waiting for the Viper to show up. When the Viper was registered for the car show, Capt. Gregory received a phone call with in minutes of faxing the registration in. The car show coordinator called to make sure he was actually bringing a Viper. This would be a first appearance of it’s kind at the national show.

The day after arriving in Las Vegas the voting table was open at the car show. There were always crowds around the one-of-a-kind D.A.R.E. Viper. There were so many vehicles there, all different makes and models and lots of tough competition, but when all the votes were in the Viper took first place in its class and like at the Georgia competition, also took Best In Show overall. The Viper was named the 2002 National D.A.R.E. Car of the Year! Capt. Gregory and Sheriff Smith were pleased to see all their hard work payoff.

Not only did the D.A.R.E. Viper, R.O.A.D. Runner IV win national recognition, it continues to serve as Camden County’s fastest deputy educating young people about the dangers of drugs!

We welcome invites for appearances. Those invites should be addressed to Capt. David Gregory care of the Camden County Sheriff's Office. P.O. Box 699, Woodbine, Georgia 31569.

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