Chief: Officer shouldn’t have been involved

The Peachtree City Council has upheld a written reprimand issued to a police officer for several infractions stemming from the pursuit of a hit-and-run suspect into Coweta County in January.

The written reprimand filed on Sgt. Kendall Smucker chided him for “participating in an unauthorized chase” and for failing to notify dispatchers and his supervisor that he was leaving the county to try and catch up to the car, which was already being pursued by three other police officers.

During a hearing Wednesday night, council voted unanimously to uphold the written reprimand; Councilman Steve Boone was not present at the meeting.

Smucker was not demoted nor suspended, and the written reprimand will be removed from Smucker’s personnel file a year after it was issued, noted Police Chief James Murray.

City Attorney Ted Meeker said that according to police policy, the chase should have been terminated after it was determined that no one was injured in the crash the suspect was linked to and after it was found that the car hadn’t been reported stolen.

Peachtree City’s pursuit policy requires that a misdemeanor of a serious nature be committed for a chase to occur, and that didn’t occur in this case, Meeker said.

Smucker challenged the wording of the reprimand, which said that he participated in an unauthorized chase. He contended that the chase was authorized, and as a supervisor he had the leverage to make that call.

Smucker, who serves as a fill-in supervisor for the department, was not serving as the watch commander when the chase occurred, Meeker noted. But Smucker added that no part of the policy requires him to notify the watch commander about participating in the pursuit.

Smucker did not challenge two other portions of the reprimand, which said he failed to notify dispatchers that he was joining the pursuit and he failed to notify the watch commander that he was joining the chase.

Smucker said after looking at the video he determined that he could’ve had time to radio in, though at the time he felt it necessary to concentrate on the pursuit itself.

Though the chase averaged about 70 mph on Hwy. 54, Smucker went more than 100 mph at one point to “catch up” to the pursuit as it continued west on Ga. Highway 54 into Coweta County and eventually into the Thomas Crossroads area.

The suspect later pulled over at his wife’s place of business in Coweta because he wanted to drop off his baby — who was in the vehicle at the time — with his wife, police said. The suspect was arrested at that location, police said.

Smucker said based on remedial training he received on the chase policy following the January incident, he wouldn’t take the same actions if a similar situation happened today.

“I would not have acted in a similar manner, not even close,” said Smucker, an 8-year veteran of the Peachtree City force.

Murray, who has made media appearances touting the consequences of liberal police chase policies, told council that his department’s policy is very restrictive.

Even officers who aren’t supervisors are allowed to halt their participation in a pursuit if they feel uncomfortable continuing the chase due to safety concerns.

“High speed pursuits are very dangerous,” Murray said. “... It’s like using deadly force.”

Mayor Harold Logsdon also said Smucker’s failure to communicate with his supervisor, the watch commander, was troubling.

“The watch commander has to know where people are at all times or somebody gets hurt,” Logsdon said.

Although the reprimand will remain in Smucker’s personnel file for a year, it will not be considered next year if he applies to be considered for a promotion, Murray said. But the reprimand could be made permanent if Smucker commits a similar policy violation again before the year expires, Murray noted.