Pubdate: Sun, 21 Sep 2003
Source: Athens Banner-Herald (GA)
Copyright: 2003 Athens Newspapers Inc
Contact:  http://www.onlineathens.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1535
Author: Mark Niesse

CORRUPTION PUTS COPS IN HEADLINES FOR WRONG REASON

Police Scandals

ATLANTA - An ''Officer of the Year'' was charged with running a gang and 
tipping off drug leaders.

A sheriff was convicted of punching two men in jail. Two deputies taped 
themselves having sex with a woman while they were in uniform. And that's 
just the beginning of a long list of Georgia officers who have been 
charged, accused or convicted in recent months.

A deputy was sued for hitting a suspect with his cruiser, an officer 
allegedly stole money during a search, another is under investigation for 
shooting a man after a 911 call and a retired police major is charged with 
using his connections to help his wife scam people whose money had been 
seized by officers. Georgia officers who swear to uphold the law have been 
breaking it in a number of recent high-profile cases. Recent cop corruption 
Recent police corruption cases: Franklin Police Chief Robert Tucker was 
suspended Sept. 2 for allegedly using a city credit card for personal expenses.

He has since been reinstated but is still under investigation. Former 
Atlanta police Maj. John Woodard pleaded not guilty Aug. 29 to charges he 
used his position to get police information and gave it to his wife's business.

The wife, Debra Woodard, is accused of falsely claiming cash seized by 
officers. East Point Officer Danny Powell turned himself in Aug. 28 after 
he was accused of stealing money during a car search. Albany police Cpl. 
Max Parrish was placed on leave after he shot and wounded a man during an 
attempted robbery of a Subway Sandwiches & Salad shop Aug. 27. A jail 
spokesman said Aug. 25 the FBI was investigating four Dougherty County Jail 
officers who are accused of beating a mean unconscious with a pair of 
handcuffs and knocking a woman's tooth out. Former Treutlen County Sheriff 
Wayne Hooks was convicted Aug. 22 of using excessive force at a jail after 
arresting two men. A former Liberty County deputy, whose name wasn't 
released, was found not guilty by a jury Aug. 22 on charges she 
investigated her own rape. Chattooga County sheriff's deputies Lt. Dan 
Young and Sgt. Jamye Dawson resigned Aug. 15 after a videotape surfaced 
showing them having sex with an unidentified woman.

The officers were in full uniform with their sheriff's department 
walkie-talkies turned on. Atlanta police Officer David Alan Freeman was 
arrested Aug. 13 on charges he warned the Diablos of police investigations, 
confiscated drugs from arrested suspects in rival gangs and attempted to 
recruit gang members. Two Fulton County Jail employees were arrested in 
early August after an undercover investigation found they were involved in 
drug deals with inmates. East Ellijay Police Chief Larry Seabolt was 
arrested July 28 on charges he falsified an accident report and offered to 
drop a DUI citation in exchange for sexual favors.

''Anytime you have an officer who crosses the line, whether one or 1,500, 
that's too many,'' said Brad Pope, director of investigations for the 
Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council. ''They should know 
better - there's a higher standard we expect of police officers.'' It's 
difficult to tell whether corruption is on the rise in Georgia or if it 
just seems that way because so many misconduct cases have been in the news, 
said Sue Carter Collins, a criminal justice professor at Georgia State 
University. ''We all want to believe the agencies and officers are not 
corrupt, and that they're not hiding anything from the public,'' she said. 
''But from a practical standpoint, there's not any way to know anything 
like this with certainty.'' When an officer is suspected of misconduct, the 
state standards council can open an investigation, Pope said. There are 
about 1,500 cases a year out of 105,000 certified officers in Georgia - 
56,000 of them actively employed as police and deputies. ''I think we're 
just hearing about it more,'' he said. ''That's not a trend. I can't say 
this is anything new or different.'' A summary of officer violations over 
the last four years shows 915 incidents in 1999, a steady rise to a high of 
1,712 cases in 2002. Through July of this year, 554 violations have been 
reported, according to standards council reports. David Alan Freeman, known 
as ''Day Day'' among fellow gangsters, is the Atlanta officer who was 
indicted by a federal grand jury last month on charges that he ordered acts 
of murder, kidnapping, and the beating of rivals and witnesses to crimes. 
In the police force, he had a reputation as an aggressive, tough-on-crime 
officer who overcame a childhood in a rough northwest Atlanta housing project.

He was named his zone's ''Officer of the Year'' two weeks before his 
arrest. The grand jury accuses Freeman of warning gang members of police 
investigations, confiscating drugs from arrested suspects in rival gangs 
and attempting to recruit gang members. Police Chief Richard Pennington, 
who fired more than 200 officers for corruption in the New Orleans 
department before coming to Atlanta, has said he won't tolerate similar 
misconduct. ''He has every intention of cleaning up corruption, and those 
who are found to be in violation of any laws ... are going to be dealt with 
firmly and harshly,'' said spokesman Sgt. John Quigley. In another case, 
Treutlen County Sheriff Wayne Hooks was convicted Aug. 22 of punching two 
men in the face at the county jail. Attorneys for Hooks, a well-liked 
sheriff, argued he was trying to control two drunk and unruly suspects. ''I 
don't believe police misconduct is an epidemic,'' said U.S. Attorney Rick 
Thompson, who prosecuted Hooks. ''Most of the law enforcement community are 
standup men and women dedicated to their profession, and they're proud of 
what they do.'' But there are still more reports of recent police 
misconduct - a jail beating in Dougherty that knocked a woman's tooth out, 
the Franklin police chief under investigation for using a city credit card 
for himself, a Rome officer charged with rape, the East Ellijay police 
chief arrested for falsifying an accident report. ''They'll have to take a 
close look to make sure everything went down correctly,'' said John 
Bankhead, spokesman for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. ''Every day a 
police officer puts on his or her uniform, there's a chance they'll have to 
make the ultimate decision to use force.'' Policing agencies are held 
accountable by their internal affairs units, criminal investigations, 
federal civil rights probes and the state standards council. Still, it's 
difficult for the public to keep police honest unless they put pressure on 
their elected officials to hold law enforcement responsible for its 
actions, said Allyson Collins, deputy director of the Los Angeles-based 
Police Assessment Resource Center. ''It's predictable that things like this 
will happen, and there will be talk about it, and then it will fade away 
until next time,'' Collins said. ''It's up to citizens in the community to 
let elected officials and others know that they are watching these issues 
and they want to see misconduct addressed.''
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