The Fayette Citizen-News Page

Wednesday, December 19, 2001

F'ville's Chief Roberts praised, pilloried at accreditation hearing

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

Law enforcement officials, teachers and criminal prosecutors went to bat for the Fayetteville Police Department Monday night during a public hearing on whether the department meets the standards for national accreditation.

But one dissenting voice took to the podium at Fayetteville City Hall to speak out against the department's management, singling out Chief Johnny Roberts for criticism.

Teachers raved about the department's efforts to educate children about topics such as child abuse and helping counsel troubled students. Prosecutors said members of the department cooperate with authorities to seek justice against criminals.

One citizen lauded the department's efforts to clean up heavy drug activity in the Church Street area that involved drug sales taking place in a nearby city park.

Even Peachtree City Police Chief James Murray, whose agency has been accredited since 1992, argued that Fayetteville deserved accreditation, because the department is seeking accreditation for the right reasons, "because it is the right thing to do for the community."

But Rebecca Raymer, a Fayette County citizen, voiced several claims, including:

That the department's K-9 program was suspended as retribution against the actions of one of the city's former K-9 officers, who had attempted to file a grievance against the department. That officer has since resigned from the department, she said;

That several officers had holiday and year-end bonus checks withheld from them for several days as retribution for not attending a city holiday party;

That over half of the city's patrol officers are actively seeking other employment because of their dissatisfaction with the department's management;

That the city's procedures for handling employee grievances are flawed, largely because Roberts also serves as the assistant city manager;

That officers did not receive required salary increases for cost of living;

That vacation time earned by some officers was taken away from them for disciplinary reasons.

Raymer urged the accreditation assessment team to investigate her claims before making a decision on whether the department is worthy of accreditation. She also made it clear that she has no grievance with any of the department's officers.

"For the officers with families to support, the actions of the chief are devastating," Raymer said. She also noted that one city councilman and the mayor have been made aware of her claims that Roberts abused his power.

A member of the accreditation evaluation team asked Raymer for a copy of her comments.

After the meeting, Roberts declined to comment on Raymer's allegations, except to note that "In our business, we don't make everybody happy," although all but one of those who spoke at the meeting appeared to be happy with the department's service.

In an interview with The Citizen about the suspension of the K-9 program, Roberts said it was done so the department could reevaluate the effectiveness of its program and its cost to the department. The suspension of the program only meant the dogs would not report to work with the officers each day, but the dogs were available if the department needs them, he added.

The city owns one K-9 dog and also used K-9 dogs which were personally owned by two officers. One of those officers has since left employment with the city.

At the time of the interview, Roberts said the department needs to evaluate what it needs out of its K-9 program, including the possibility of acquiring a bomb-sniffing dog.

Earl Shirley, a member of the accreditation team evaluating whether the department complies with accreditation standards, said the team would look into any possible violation of the accreditation standards.

"We will look at everything that pertains to the standards," Shirley said, noting that the Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies also will consider public comments that were voiced during a phone session and those that were sent to CALEA in writing.

Shirley noted that the evaluation team has a large amount of leeway to determine whether any accreditation standards have been violated.

"We do what we need to to see if the agency is in compliance," Shirley said.

If the department is found to have violated one or more of the national accreditation standards, it could face rejection of its application for accreditation.

The evaluation team is responsible for making a report back to the full CALEA accreditation commission so the department may be considered for accreditation in March.