THOMASVILLE — Two Thomasville Post 12 Georgia State Patrol troopers embarked Wednesday for Washington, D.C., for the Friday inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.

Trooper First Class Cantrell Cooley and Trooper First Class Grey Shiver departed Atlanta via commercial jet Wednesday. 

“They will return on Saturday,” Sgt. First Class Tommy Peeples, Post 12 commander, said.

The Thomasville troopers’ primary duties will be to provide security Friday along the Pennsylvania Avenue inaugural parade route.

The 48 Georgia GSP troopers chosen for the mission will perform security duties wearing Georgia State Patrol uniforms.

“Some were hand-picked. Some were volunteers,” Peeples said, describing how troopers were chosen for the inaugural parade detail.

This is the fourth year GSP has provided security at presidential inaugural parades.

Peeples said Florida is sending a trooper security detail, along with “quite a few” other states.

“This year, they’ve gotten kind of lucky with the weather,” the commander said, noting some inaugural parades have been held with temperatures at “zero degrees.”

Troopers will be in charge of parade crowd control while looking for anything suspicious and responding to questions asked by parade-goers.

Said Peeples, “They will be very vigilant.”

Approximately 900,000 people are expected to converge Friday on the nation’s capital city.

Senior reporter Patti Dozier can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 1820