After reading the letter to the editor written by Wendy L. Scales-Johnson, I was concerned that officers in Fayette County would treat people the way that Mrs. Scales-Johnson described. I also was concerned that, since Ingles Grocery Store is located in the city, Fayetteville police officers may have been involved.

I began looking into the incident and located an incident report indicating that the Fayetteville Police Department was involved in the incident. However, the facts of the incident were considerably different from the way Mrs. Scales-Johnson described them.

This was not an issue of driving while black.

The officer made contact with the first vehicle parked near the school buses, not driving by the store or on Ga. Highway 92.

This is relevant because both the city and the county have recently experienced thefts of catalytic converters from vehicles. A similar incident occurred behind Ingles just over a week ago.

The officer noticed a person was walking around the outside of the vehicle. It was about 10:30 p.m. The officer approached the man and asked him what he was doing parked there and walking around the vehicle.

The man explained to the officer that he was smoking and did not want to smoke in the car. The officer ran an inquiry on the man and found that he was wanted by Fayette County for violation of probation.

While talking with the first man, a second vehicle came around the buses, saw the officer and tried to veer away from him. The officer motioned for the vehicle to stop. The vehicle was being operated by Mrs. Scales-Johnson’s son.

After being asked why he was driving around the buses, Mr. Scales indicated he saw his friend there and was coming over to speak with him.

The officer said that Mr. Scales was nervous. Neither the contact with the driver of the first vehicle nor the driver and occupant of the second vehicle had anything to do with a traffic-related stop. It was because the vehicles were in an area where we had experienced recent thefts, and it was suspicious that the vehicles were parked or driving near the school buses.

Other officers arrived at the location, due to one of the persons being wanted. During the incident, the initial officer asked for consent to search Mr. Scales’ vehicle to see if he had any tools or catalytic converter parts in his vehicle.

Mr. Scales and his passenger were asked to exit the vehicle and the vehicle was searched. The officer had all of three people stand on the pavement next to vehicle as he searched the vehicle.

This is often done to protect the officer(s) while they are investigating an incident.

The officer found a couple of flakes of marijuana in the vehicle. Once the officer found the flakes of marijuana, the officer showed the marijuana to Mr. Scales.

Mr. Scales indicated that the marijuana was not his and his father had been driving the vehicle. The officer went back to the vehicle to check to see if he had missed any additional marijuana. After searching the vehicle a second time, the officer allowed Mr. Scales and his passenger to leave.

The driver of the first vehicle was arrested. The officer then asked the man if he wanted someone to pick up his vehicle, instead of towing the vehicle and the man having to pay a towing and storage fee.

The man elected to have his girlfriend pick up the vehicle. A call was placed to the girlfriend and she came and picked up the car.

While I understand that Mrs. Scales-Johnson would be concerned and upset if her sons were stopped and treated like she described, I did not see any evidence that her sons or the man in the first vehicle were mistreated in any way.

To the contrary, the officer saw something suspicious in an area where we had experienced recent criminal activity, at a time when people should not be parked there, and the officer made contact with the person to see what he was doing in the area.

As he is doing that, another vehicle arrives and he stops that vehicle and finds that the persons in that vehicle are meeting with the person in the first vehicle.

After checking whether the first man is wanted, he finds there is an active warrant for him.

After a legal consent search for a legitimate reason (the search for tools and parts) the officer finds a very small amount of marijuana. He speaks to the driver about the marijuana, elects not to charge him and releases the driver and his passenger.

The officer offers and arranges for the vehicle of the person who has been arrested to be picked up instead of towed.

It doesn’t appear to me that the officer considered the race of the individuals at all. He simply was doing what we expect of our police officers, making sure our citizens’ and businesses’ properties are safe.

The officers at the Fayetteville Police Department work very hard to treat everyone with respect and courtesy, while balancing the need to protect our citizens and businesses from criminal activity.

Steven D. Heaton

Chief of Police

Fayetteville, Ga.