A number of Atlanta police officers did not show up for their Wednesday-night shifts in protest of murder charges brought against a former officer who shot and killed Rayshard Brooks after he resisted arrest.
Hours after Fulton County district attorney Paul L. Howard said officer Garrett Rolfe would be charged with felony murder, Atlanta police union spokesman Vince Champion told NBC News that officers had decided to walk off the job and go silent on radios to protest the decision.
“This is not an organized thing, it’s not a blue flu, it’s not a strike, it’s nothing like that. What it actually is, is officers protesting that they’ve had enough and they don’t want to deal with it any longer,” he said.
In an interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Champion added that “there are officers saying they are not going to leave the precinct unless to help another officer. Some are walking off and sitting in their personal vehicles.”
The Atlanta Police Department released a statement after Champion’s comments, calling claims that officers were walking off the job “inaccurate.”
“The department is experiencing a higher than usual number of call outs with the incoming shift,” the police explained. “We have enough resources to maintain operations & remain able to respond to incidents.”
Earlier suggestions that multiple officers from each zone had walked off the job were inaccurate. The department is experiencing a higher than usual number of call outs with the incoming shift. We have enough resources to maintain operations & remain able to respond to incidents.
— Atlanta Police Department (@Atlanta_Police) June 18, 2020
But Atlanta police scanner traffic conflicted with the statement. “We are not answering 911 calls right now due to personnel issues,” a police dispatcher said Wednesday.
Poster Comment:
“We are not answering 911 calls right now due to personnel issues,”
Burglars will be dropping like flies.