Pubdate: Tue, 15 Jan 2013
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
Copyright: 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Contact: http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/letters/sendletter.html
Website: http://www.ajc.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/28
Author: Rhonda Cook

EX-OFFICERS: APD HAD ARREST QUOTAS

City of Atlanta police officers focusing on high-crime areas were
pressured to meet unconstitutional arrest quotas and were promised
rewards like pizza or shorter work days if they exceeded their
numbers, according to court filings by two ex-officers involved in a
misconduct lawsuit.

The department has long denied having arrest quotas, though it has
said officers are expected to meet "performance goals." Still, critics
have blamed quotas for playing a role in the 2006 death of 92-year-old
Kathryn Johnston, shot dead in her living room during a botched drug
raid, as well as in other cases that spawned lawsuits.

Last week, two former officers being sued over a public strip search
filed affidavits in which they said pulling down the pants of men in
hopes of finding drugs was necessary to meet their quota of daily arrests.

They said they were reminded before each shift that they had arrest
quotas even though federal courts have said officers must have an
"articuable" reason or "probable cause" for any kind of search and
that public strip searches are unconstitutional.

In a 2012 lawsuit, Ricky Sampson said he was stopped by the five
members of the now-disbanded Red Dog unit in late 2008 as they trolled
the West End area looking for drug crimes. Sampson says the officers
pulled down his boxers and inspected his buttocks and genitals in
front of bystanders including his girlfriend. He said they found no
drugs and did not arrest him.

"My supervisors and commanding officers encouraged these searches in
more than one way," former officer Cayenne Mayes said in his
affidavit. "They told us to 'always check the underwear,' ... making
very clear that Red Dog teams had to meet arrest quotas."

Mayes was fired in 2011 for untruthfulness regarding a botched 2007
raid at a Midtown Atlanta gay bar.

"I was not a rogue officer," Stalone Davis, who resigned from the APD,
said in his affidavit. "I was following orders to make a strong
presence, make arrests, help get drugs off the street... What we did was
fine with the department so long as we were making arrests."

Sampson sued the city as well as the five officers involved in the
incident.

The Atlanta Police Department denies both the claims in Sampson's suit
and in the officers' affidavits.

"Mr. Sampson's lawsuit has no merit, and the allegations of former APD
officers relating to the lawsuit are baseless," APD said in an email.
"The city will continue to defend the lawsuit in federal court, and we
are confident that the court will find no merit to the
allegations."

None of the other officers involved has filed an affidavit.

In the Johnston case, some officers who were charged with misconduct
said they lied to get search warrants so they could meet quotas.

Sampson's suit isn't the only strip search case. As of last spring the
city had spent $770,000 to settle similar suits brought by men who
said officers touched them inappropriately while looking for drugs
that weren't found. The five officers Sampson sued also were named in
some of those cases.

"It should be noted that APD long ago disbanded the Red Dog Unit (and
since) has held training conducted by a nationally-recognized expert
on Fourth Amendment issues for all sworn officers, and (APD) will
continue to update training on an ongoing basis," the department said.

Davis wrote in his affidavit that, in cases where arrests were made,
officers usually described the strip search in reports reviewed by
supervisors. No report was filed about Sampson's encounter because he
was not arrested.

Mayes and Davis said they needed to make their quota - five arrests,
one for each member of their team - and that was one of the reasons
they stopped Sampson.

"We were encouraged to exceed the quota with the promise to have pizza
and even DVD movies waiting for us back at headquarters," Mayes'
affidavit said, adding officers also could go home early.

APD had many chances to address these problems before they became part
of lawsuits, said Cristina Beamud, the former executive director of
the Atlanta Citizen Review Board. Beamud said in an affidavit that she
told or wrote Chief George Turner several times about reports of strip
searches, but never got a response.

"After many years of being involved in police work and oversight,"
Beamud wrote her affidavit filed along with the officers', "I have
never seen the administration of a police department or city
government be less concerned or responsive regarding an apparent
systematic problem of officer misconduct and disregard for the
constitutional rights of citizens." 
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