A year-long investigation by a one-man-band investigative reporter revealed institutional and systemic failures inside a large Metro Atlanta police department. By cultivating internal police sources, he was able to demand specific, hidden public records that uncovered the following scandals the Roswell Police Department tried to keep secret from the public:
• Officers arrested a driver for speeding using a ‘coin flip’ app
• Top sergeant intentionally froze a 13 year old boy to get him to tell the truth
• Police covered up a K9 brutally mauling a teen suspect who had already surrendered
• Department concealed the release of a suspected drunk driver – one of its own officers
• Officer failed to help a dying prisoner because that officer was already under investigation
There’s a common thread linking all of these incidents: police commanders quietly counseled violators within their own department until they realized that our reporter was about to inform the public. Then, and only then, did the command staff launch internal investigations, and fire or demote the offending officers. The police department engaged in elaborate cover-ups.
