In keeping with Atlanta Police Department tradition, the Citizen Review Board tonight recommended harsher discipline for rank and file officers involved in the September 2009 raid on the Atlanta Eagle bar than for commanding officers.
The CRB recommended three days suspension without pay for all low ranking officers involved in the raid. For command staff, the board recommended only a written reprimand and retraining.
Patrons at the bar claimed police violated their civil rights and last fall a federal court ordered the City of Atlanta to pay a settlement of more than $1 million to them and the owners of the bar.
For failure to supervise police officers under her command, Maj. Deborah Williams, then head of the special enforcement section in charge of the raid, will receive a written reprimand and retraining as will Sgt. John Brock, Lt. Tony Crawford, and Sgt. Willie Adams.
Lt. Scott Pautsch, who was asked to lend his Red Dog unit to the raid less than 24 hours before it was to take place and who was not present at the raid, was exonerated of failure to supervise.
Sgt. Kelly Collier, however, who was assigned to watch the bar area of the Eagle and told investigators that he couldn’t recall much of anything about the raid—not how many bartenders were behind the bar he was watching or how an adjacent residence had its door busted down, although he was standing at the door when it happened—was found to be untruthful and the board recommended that he be suspended without pay for 30 days, even though the department itself has a policy of termination for untruthfulness.
The CRB, a board appointed by the City Council through a few select community organizations, is, according to the ordinance that created it, entrusted with holding the police department accountable for lawful and ethical behavior. It polices the police, but it can’t actually execute its own recommendations which, in view of tonight’s recommendations, is probably for the best.
After a muddled farce of parliamentary order and approving the same measure twice, the CRB officially extolled the importance of not disciplining low-ranking officers more harshly than supervisors and then did exactly that: How does a written reprimand stack up to three days suspension without pay?
Executive Director Cristine Beaumud, in delivering her investigator’s report on the raid, explained that Maj. Williams “was not aware there were going to be multiple arrests” at the raid. Yet, there was no particular suspect named on a warrant. In fact, there was no warrant. So a raid of an establishment with dozens of customers would seem more likely than not to yield multiple arrests.
The defense of Williams, who oversaw the vice unit, narcotics unit and Red Dog, was that she didn’t know anything about the raid because she wasn’t informed by her lower-ranking officers. The tactical plan, as explained by Beaumud, was signed by a sergeant (Brock) although Williams admitted it was supposed to be signed by a lieutenant (Crawford).
And so, Williams, the major supposedly in charge of the unit leading the raid, was let off the hook with a recommendation for a written reprimand and retraining. Her defense was that she didn’t know what her officers were doing and was not present at the largest raid her division had planned all year.
In no hierarchy of sworn officers in the entire world would such a lack of leadership be tolerated. A commanding officer not knowing what her officers are doing when they requisition personnel and equipment would merit a discharge from any military branch—and soldiers plan such operations to deal with the enemy, police, on the other hand, are trusted to deal with American civilians. Williams’ primary defense, according to the CRB deliberations, was that she didn’t know and she wasn’t there.
Leadership is judged by what happens in one’s absence: If a commanding officer is a real leader, then it doesn’t matter whether she is present or not, she commands so much respect that she doesn’t have to be present to ensure that officers under her command adhere to her guidelines.
It is high time that the APD seek to match such standards of leadership.
Instead of understanding that it is an organization of lethally armed professionals trusted with guarding the justice of a civilized society, the APD continues to hire, train and promote as if it is the sanitation department: Anyone who can stand and breathe at the same time is good enough and any training that doesn’t get you killed is sufficient.
Look at the Facebook pages: Female sergeants who apparently don’t know how to cross their legs while wearing a dress and drug enforcement officers posing as if they’re pinups for Manhunt.com. Look at the transfers, done vindictively or arbitrarily without a thought for how an officer might contribute to the new assignment. Look at the promotions—in many instances a slop trough of unearned reward.
How can such people expect the citizens to respect them when they don’t respect themselves or their department?
What a great day it will be when the men and women who serve in the APD are not ashamed of the people who work alongside them and, more damningly, supervise them.
The CRB was supposed to be the antidote to this poisonous state of affairs. And yet tonight, dealing with a case in which all the nastiness has been publically revealed, it upheld a system that refuses to hold command staff accountable and punishes the rank and file for following orders.
Holy Crap….talk about a sham of a “review”. This really smells like someone has fixed the board for their friends.
Once again-APD shows it is a corrupt organization and it’s alleged leaders are either liars or really stupid. Which is it, Major Williams and Sgt Collier? Pick one, cause there is no door #3.
There is a Door #3: it’s a revolving door that clearly opened and was recognizable at the beginning of this year and half story, before a winning $1.025M civil suit made it chic and of note. APD is entirely rogue systemically in that it behaves like a good ole boys club–if your buddy wants to raid a gay bar, you go along. Even if you’re the boss. Then you throw ‘em under the bus later if need be. They illegally raid all the time at many establishments—I’m proud that my community, the gay community, finally stood up.
Good job Stephanie. What is amazing, the police chief is the only person who is responsible for contacting the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to investigate when his officers break federal and state laws. In this raid, federal and state laws were broken.
I can assure you, Major Williams might forget that she was involved in the raid when speaking to the Atlanta Police internal affairs investigator or sergeant. But I can bet she would remember how involved she was when the was interviewed by an FBI agent. She did not know they were going to arrest people? Please, that is why they used three wagons, and have over thirty officers. A raid of this size required the approval of the major. She is not fooling anyone.
Shame on Mayor Reed for not asking the FBI, the GBI, and Paul Howards office to investigate the raid. But why would he, George Turner was involved with hiding the documents and emails which showed Major Debra Williams involvement, and his own involvement.
There is not much that separates George Turner and Debra Williams from the criminals they swore to protect citizens from.
When you find you have fouled up, don’t hang your head in shame.
Hold your head up, proud and tall – and find someone else to blame.
It’s getting more difficult to distinguish criminal behavior from police behavior.
The entire city is built on corruption. Throughout the city government and all its agencies. A handful of people at the top, who safeguard all the dirty secrets of the city elite, are allowed to get away with whatever they want. For fear, that they’ll one day spill the beans and bring the whole house of cards down. There is no way for Williams not to know about what happened. If the tip came from the mayor’s office, the mayors office didn’t call Sgt Brock or anyone else, other than the Assistant Chief of CID or Williams herself. And since she was a fixture at City Hall under Franklin, then someone had her phone number and passed on the concerns of the “alleged” tipster. What a f…ing joke. And for the CRB to come down with that, they’ve just shown their ass, as a complete waste of time and money. And to those officers that were following orders, remember who put you in the place you’re in now, the next time you decide to get in to a foot chase with a kid with two bags of weed in his pocket. All you were doing was following orders and look at how you were thrown under the bus.
As someone who sat through the December meeting of the Citizen Review Board (CRB), I was under the misguided understanding that the CRB wanted to investigate further than their initial findings of false imprisonment, abusive language and excessive force. There was a seemingly sincere proposal that further investigation would provide evidence of individual wrong-doing which would require individual punishment. It was unanimously agreed that a 3-day suspension without pay was not reprimand enough for the agregious acts perpetrated on the patrons of the Eagle Bar on September 10, 2010. It was clearly stated that the Atlanta Police Dept.’s chart of appropriate punitive action, which was referred to as “the grid” was inadequate to the offenses of the raid; therefore, the need to enact a more extensive investigation in order to justify recommendations of punishment beyond that recommended on the grid.
All of the above would lead one to think that there was a sincere desire to voice a recommendation to the police chief that the infractions enacted upon the patrons of the Eagle Bar were in violation of 4th Ammendment Rights granted to all citizens of the United States and thereby worthy of greater punishment than that of a 3-day suspension. That suspension is, of note, the most punishment allowable by the police department grid.
There was a point in the meeting of January 19, when there was unanimous agreement that one particular officer, Collier, whose remarks about what happened that night were not corroborated by those of plaintiffs or other officers was to be fired from the police department for untruthfulness (the APD prescribes firing for untruthfulness because an officer’s testimony in subsequent criminal cases in the course of doing his job would not stand up in court). And then one of the board members stated that Collier had not been subjected to a voice stress test to ascertain his truthfulness. At that point, the board waffled then collapsed upon itself by voting unanimously to recommend a punishment of 30 days suspension without pay for an offense which, according to the APD’s own policy, warrants dismissal!
The plaintiffs who were present at the Eagle Bar on the night of the raid, have received an apology by the mayor and an apology from the city council. This body of plaintiffs is now due the biggest apology of all–from the Citizens Review Board Committee who are supposed to champion the rights of citizens which have been blatantly and egregiously violated by the Atlanta Police Department. The Citizens Review Board members have embarrassed themselves and the citizens of Atlanta. The CRB has now victimized the plaintiffs of police abuse with their sorry and inexplicable decision to nearly exhonerate all of the guilty police officers who perpetrated the raid on the Eagle Bar. Shame on you CRB. You have been looked to for justice–justice, Hell I say.
Amen, brother!
You don’t think this City is actually going to find the truth of the matter here do you? They didn’t after Neal St., when a FEDERAL judge clearly noted the APD system of quotas played heavily in the events. No one above a Sgt. was held accountable then when someone actually died. This raid only shows those in charge think they can do whatever they want….and get away with it. Who will prove them wrong????? Exactly.