Clayton board: 12 reasons to oust police chief

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Clayton County, GA

When the Clayton County Board of Commissioners voted to remove Jeff Turner as the county's police chief, they detailed "12 issues which caused the board to have some confidence concerns."

Special: Jeff Turner

Board members voted to reassign Turner to direct the county's police academy, giving him until Monday to defend himself against the following allegations:

1. On Sept. 10, 2007, a Clayton County officer was caught and arrested by federal agents for committing the offense of enticing a minor child to engage in illegal sexual activities. This arrest was highly publicized and brought disgrace upon the department and the county. The fact that this officer committed these crimes using a county computer in a county vehicle while on duty is disturbing. The fact that he was caught not by a supervisor and instead by a federal agency calls into question internal departmental control or lack thereof.

2. In October 2007, allegations were lodged against a Clayton County officer claiming he had engaged in sex with a female he had arrested prior to transporting her to the jail. On Dec. 7, 2007, that Clayton County officer was terminated after admitting he had engaged the services of prostitutes both on- and off-duty

3. In May 2007, a female detective lodged a complaint of sexual harassment to her immediate supervisor. The detective has subsequently filed suit against Clayton County for sexual harassment and retaliation.

4. On Oct 8, 2008, a complaint of sexual harassment was lodged by a female applicant against a sergeant. The sergeant was accused of keeping a female in a closed room, kissing her breast and attempting to fondle her genitalia. This investigation was opened and closed in less than eight hours. Furthermore, this case was not properly evaluated for potential criminal prosecution prior to the close of the investigation. Additionally, it appears that the chief diminished the serious nature of the offense committed by the sergeant when reporting the incident to the chairman. In early 2009 when suit was filed, it was further discovered that Chief Turner had failed to follow a Clayton County ordinance regarding the proper notification of sexual harassment allegations. Clayton County had to settle this case in order to limit potential damage liability.

5. In early spring 2009, the board of commissioners was dealing with legal matters regarding the transfer of employees from the police department back to the Sheriff’s department. Consequently, Chief Turner was advised by both the chief of staff and the chairman not to promote employees to rank of lieutenant as those billets would probably be transferred out of the police department and redistributed elsewhere. Chief Turner ignored that directive. His actions have generated 2 lawsuits, one of which we are still defending. These actions, along with Chief Turner’s lack of cooperation of working with the board during the budget crisis led the board to counsel Chief Turner.

6. After receiving several complaints over the summer of 2009 from Sheriff Kimbrough that Chief Turner had not been sharing vital crime statistics with the sheriffs department, a meeting was convened in order to determine the status of the police department's crime mapping initiative known as Crime View. This is a software program the police department purchased with drug funds which both the chief of staff and the chairman had been led to believe is fully operational. The chief and certain staff members admitted that the police department had paid over $109,000 to a vendor for hardware and software. The county has not received any software to date and it is questionable what deliverables have been provided to the county. Furthermore, police department and admin staff admitted that they failed to read the contract which requires the county to invest an additional $130,000 in order to implement the project. It is unclear who within the police department was assigned to manage this project.

7. On Aug. 25, 2009, a Clayton County police narcotics agent traveled in a police car to visit a female friend. During his visit at the friend’s home, the female’s boyfriend came to the house and discovered the officer’s presence. While fleeing the residence in a panic, the officer ran into his own vehicle with his weapon drawn and shot a hole in it. This incident was never reported by Chief Turner to the chief of staff or chairman. To date, no internal affairs investigation has been completed nor has any disciplinary action been taken in this case.

8. On Sept 7, 2009, two machine guns were stolen from the trunk of a patrolman’s car. Chief Turner was questioned and counseled regarding why he would allow a patrolman to carry such weaponry in a vehicle which he drove home. The theft occurred while the county vehicle was parked in the parking lot of the apartment complex where the officer lived.

9. On Sept. 9, 2009, a Clayton County police officer initiated a police chase because a male perpetrator was suspected of soliciting sex from a prostitute. The chase continued into Fulton County, where it ended on Old National Highway in a motor vehicle accident. Unfortunately, this accident resulted in the death of 2 innocent women. A review of the police department records reveals that six innocent bystanders have died from 2007 to 2009 due to police chases. As a result of the 2009 accident, Chairman Bell questioned departmental chase policies.

10. In late October of this year, Chief Turner reported allegations of serious misconduct on the part of certain Clayton County police officers that had arisen from what appeared to his internal affairs officers as a credible witness. The allegations of wrong-doing are of such a serious, sensitive, and far-reaching nature that they cannot be discussed in this forum. Over Chief Turner’s objections, the matter was reported to Chairman Bell. Chief Turner was instructed to fully brief the chairman regarding this matter. Chief Turner received clear instructions from the chairman as how to proceed with the investigation. Chief Turner rebuffed the chairman’s key directive and proceeded on his own path. The matter has languished unresolved for more than six weeks, and without further updates to the chairman.

11. Early this year the sheriff, district attorney and solicitor requested assistance from county staff in order to conduct an audit of their respective staffs in order to determine if any county assets were missing. Internal audits were conducted in each department. The final report revealed that weapons and other assets were missing from the sheriff’s department. Given the similarities in law enforcement function existent between the police and sheriff's department, an audit of the police department was warranted. Chief Turner was notified well in advance that the audit would take place. The audit was completed in late November. The audit revealed that there are 138 weapons unaccounted for and 85 firearms carried by police officers for which the dept has no documentation for how they came into the department’s possession. Serious concerns regarding the storage, handling and disposal of drugs are also enumerated in the audit report.

12. There are 14 areas of audit which are red-flagged as representing significant risk or liabilities. The narcotics evidence room is in disarray and overflowing with drugs (over 2K lbs) much of which have destruction orders dating back to 2008. The report arrives at the conclusion that “effective management controls are incomplete or nonexistent concerning firearms inventory and the property and evidence room.” The condition of the narcotics evidence room in particular, calls in to question what, if any admin oversight is taking place. This area of the police department overall responsibility calls for the highest level of organizational control.

-- List courtesy of Clayton County Chief of Staff Alex S. Cohilas

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