Article mentioning numerous rogue Georgia cops:
Sunday, Aug. 16, 2009
Background check on authorities not always enough
While state and federal authorities are investigating allegations of misconduct involving Cochran police officers, six other Middle Georgia officers and deputies have found themselves arrested in the past year.
The charges range from
theft to using a computer to entice a child for sex.
Police departments and sheriff’s offices say they routinely conduct thorough background checks on applicants before hiring new officers and deputies.
But sometimes that’s not enough.
Peach County Deputy Cornelius Flowers was a 19-year veteran who headed the Peach County Drug Enforcement Unit.
He had a clean record with no disciplinary actions against him before his Aug. 4 arrest on allegations he helped sell lawn tractors, said Sheriff Terry Deese.
Deese said the arrest came as a shock.
“He’s always been one of our best,” Deese said. “It just goes to show you that even good people make poor decisions.”
Another Peach deputy, 55-year-old Aubrey Touchton, of Fort Valley, was arrested on June 29 on five counts of possession of child pornography he allegedly downloaded from the Internet.
Touchton, who had been with the sheriff’s office for about two years,
was assigned as a school resource officer at Fort Valley Middle School and filled in on courthouse security, Deese said.
Prior to becoming a deputy, Touchton was a planning and zoning officer for Crawford County and worked as a Warner Robins police officer early in his career.
Before hiring Bobby Rydale Cowart Jr. as a deputy on Sept. 22, 2008, the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office performed a background check, according to his personnel file.
They found records of three traffic violations and that he had pleaded guilty to underage possession of alcohol in 2002, according to his personnel file.
His previous employers and references gave favorable comments.
But less than a year after his hiring,
Cowart, 25, was arrested on allegations he stole a cell phone from the property room at the jail where inmates’ personal items are stored.
Cowart is one of two deputies employed by the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office in the past year who have been arrested and terminated.
Gregory Todd Bowden, 42, of Byron, faces federal charges after being arrested Feb. 11 on charges he used a computer to entice a child for sex.
Lt. Greg Rachel said investigators spend an average 40-hour week conducting an extensive background check before making a hire.
The process begins with a check of the applicant’s birth certificate and educational documents.
If the applicant was in the military, investigators also check to be sure the person received a honorable discharge, Rachel said.
Investigators then run a national criminal history check, state driving history check and talk with local law enforcement agencies, court records and the district attorney’s office to determine if the applicant has a criminal history, he said.
Dispatch logs are consulted to see if law enforcement has been called to the applicant’s home and there’s a check with the Peace Officer Standards and Training Council to see if the applicant has previously been employed with a police department or sheriff’s office, Rachel said.
Applicants then undergo a verification interview and a polygraph before investigators check with past employers and references, he said.
“We’re trying to get a broad view of the applicant,” Rachel said, adding investigators talk with supervisors, co-workers and personal references.
If the applicant lives within a day’s drive, the investigators then visit the applicant’s neighborhood to talk with neighbors.
“The more information you get, the better view you get of the person,” Rachel said.
Once the backgrounding process is complete, a report is compiled and sent to the chief deputies for review.
If the applicant still is considered, a psychological examination is performed, he said.
The process is very similar at the Macon Police Department, where two officers have been arrested in the past month.
Sgt. Scott Dubbert said prospective officers also undergo an assessment of scenarios like how they would handle a traffic stop or domestic violence incident.
In harsh economic times, Dubbert said a flood of applications have been filed, some by people whose backgrounds prevent them from becoming officers.
Human resources weeds out applicants who have serious criminal offenses in their pasts while the rest continue through the police selection process.
Having a history of drug use or a minor criminal offense doesn’t necessarily prevent a person from being considered for the job, Dubbert said.
“It depends on the person and what they’ve done in their life,” he said.
Macon police officer Dustin Lee Harris, of Gray, was arrested Aug. 3 on charges he stole money while searching a car.
Hired in March, 28-year-old Harris was terminated before he completed probation, according to the police department.
He admitted he was cited for a traffic violation on his job application, but otherwise his personnel file was clean.
Prior to being hired,
32-year-old Dennis Benjamin Wood, of Macon, admitted he was charged with carrying a gun onto school grounds in 1995, but the charges were dismissed, according to his personnel file.
In his two years of employment,
Wood received five reprimands including a one-day suspension prior to his being arrested on Nov. 28 for misdemeanor cruelty to children, theft and family violence-related simple battery, according to his file.
Sgt. Melanie Hofmann said the charges against Wood were dismissed.
His personnel record shows he was reinstated on May 26 on probation, but with no back-dated benefits, and with the understanding that he completed an anger management class.
Hofmann said Wood resigned soon after his July 30 arrest for making harassing phone calls to his wife.
While most of the officers and deputies arrested in the past year lost their jobs, one was given a second chance.
Houston County deputy Patrick Andrew Walsh, 39, was charged with drunken driving by Warner Robins police on Feb. 20, according to police and court records provided by Sheriff Cullen Talton.
Walsh’s blood alcohol content was .177, according to court records. The legal limit to drive in Georgia is .08.
He pleaded guilty on June 11, according to court records.
Walsh initially transferred to the jail but since returned to patrol, Talton said.
“He was a good officer,” Talton said.
“He mad a mistake. ... I believe in giving anybody a second chance.”
Although it’s hard at times for small departments to fill vacancies because the salaries offered are generally lower than other agencies and policing is generally not a high-paying profession, Fort Valley Police Chief John David Anderson believes a position should never be filled just because the department needs a body.
Byron police Chief Wesley Cannon agreed.
He said he may receive 30 applications for an officer position, but interview only four because the others just don’t make the cut.
In Bibb County, Sheriff Jerry Modena said the pool of candidates applying for a job at his office also has been limited by the $25,688 starting salary.
He said job candidates are applying for higher paying jobs elsewhere and it’s harder to find people who don’t have an objectionable past.
“We’ve done everything possible within our reach to get the best of the best,” Modena said.
Macon Police Chief Mike Burns said law enforcement officers are held to a higher standard because they’re in positions of trust.
“They have to have integrity,” he said.
Information from The Telegraph’s archives was included in this report.
http://www.macon.com/local/story/811346.html