Atlanta, GA

Allegations against metro Atlanta police officer leads to her resignation

Published

2 years ago

September 27, 2022

Allegations against metro Atlanta police officer leads to her resignation

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — An area police lieutenant is out of a job after a number of officers accused her of inflicting a hostile work atmosphere.

The officers mentioned she was stealing cash and consuming on the job, amongst different claims.

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Now, town of South Fulton has requested an outdoor police company to research the matter.

Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes has discovered that the Smyrna Police Division took up the investigation and has interviewed greater than 20 staff for the South Fulton Police Division.

In the long run, the investigation discovered that the primary complaints have been substantiated. There have been a number of violations of division coverage and presumably even prison violations.

It began late final 12 months, when eight South Fulton law enforcement officials made official complaints about Lt. Shannon McKesey.

Greater than half of them mentioned on the document that McKesey had created a hostile work atmosphere as a result of she was “horrible.”

Seven officers complained that McKesey would “drink alcohol at work,” pressured others to do it along with her, and claimed individuals “are intimidated by McKesey due to her relationship with the chief and his spouse.”

At the very least one officer complained that McKesey mishandled cash from crime scenes.

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In a memo to metropolis officers, when the HR director Niki Graham tried to launch an investigation, Graham mentioned Councilwoman Helen Willis tried to fireplace her.

Graham mentioned, “It issues me that Councilwoman Willis would ask to terminate me for doing my job.”

The town supervisor, Tammy Sadler Jones, additionally despatched a memo saying Willis accused the HR director of “meddling in police enterprise” and that “she wants to go away town and go to a different company.”

That’s when town supervisor known as for an outdoor police company to research.

Smyrna investigators spoke to greater than 20 South Fulton Police Division staff.

Fernandes requested South Fulton Police Chief Keith Meadows to take a seat down along with her for an interview, however he declined.

She additionally requested for an interview with Willis, however she by no means answered Fernandes’ request.

Willis did touch upon the investigation in a earlier Fb put up, saying there’s no benefit to those allegations.

The Smyrna police investigation discovered the complaints of Sgt. Burkhart and Detective King of a hostile work atmosphere are substantiated.

There have been a number of substantiated violations of metropolis of South Fulton coverage, South Fulton Police Division coverage and labor act violations. There’s a extremely possible prison violation of theft discovered on this investigation.

All individuals within the polygraph have been decided to be truthful, besides McKesey.

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McKesey denied the allegations, however based on the report, every week after Smyrna launched its findings on July 5, McKesey resigned in lieu of termination.

Many officers consider South Fulton Police Chief Keith Meadows ought to have fired her as quickly as Smyrna’s report got here out.

The town of South Fulton despatched an announcement saying that because the investigation, there have been some adjustments. Cash will now not be dealt with the way in which it was.

It is going to be counted on the scene with a cash counter and despatched straight to the state.

The state will then return the cash with documentation.

The mayor mentioned he’s working working with Meadows to have higher communication so nothing like this can occur once more.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Residents inside Smyrna senior residing middle involved about their residing situations Photos inside the Galleria Manor in Smyrna present lifeless roaches, amongst different issues which have brought on involved amongst senior residents who reside there.

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Atlanta, GA

Gwinnett County Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade canceled due to cold weather

Published

7 hours ago

January 19, 2025

Press Room

Gwinnett County Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade canceled due to cold weather

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – A Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in Gwinnett County has been canceled due to cold weather expected to move through Atlanta.

The Gwinnett County Democratic Party announced that the United Ebony Society made the decision.

The party said, “This decision was not made lightly, and was made to prioritize the safety of our community. We welcome you to honor Dr. King’s legacy in your own way and hope you stay warm!”

According to the Atlanta News First First Alert Weather team, it will be below freezing Monday morning and could be as low as 29 degrees at noon. Highs tomorrow are expected to be in the low 30s.

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Atlanta, GA

Winter Storm Watch: What we know so far about snow for metro Atlanta on Tuesday

Published

15 hours ago

January 19, 2025

Press Room

Winter Storm Watch: What we know so far about snow for metro Atlanta on Tuesday

We’ll have a Winter Storm Watch from Tuesday morning through Wednesday morning with the possibility of one to three inches of snow possible.

The highest impacts are expected in areas south of Interstate 20.

Severe Weather Team 2 Chief Meteorologist Brad Nitz is tracking the timing on when it will arrive.

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Atlanta, GA

MLK Beloved Community Awards shines light on injustice of man killed during homeless encampment clearing

Published

23 hours ago

January 19, 2025

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MLK Beloved Community Awards shines light on injustice of man killed during homeless encampment clearing

MLK Beloved Community Awards red carpet

Singer and actor Trina Braxton, the host of the 2025 MLK Beloved Community Awards, joins FOX 5 Atlanta reporter Eric Mock on the red carpet at the Omni Atlanta Hotel. She says the message for the award ceremony is simple: Serve your community.

ATLANTA – The annual Beloved Community Awards by The King Center kicked off a weekend of remembrance and service in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

It’s a night to honor people working to make the world a more just place.

But the injustice of an unhoused man’s death, caused by an Atlanta City Public Works truck during a sweep of the encampment where he was sleeping, weighed heavily on many of the civil rights leaders gathered at the ceremony.

MLK Beloved Community Awards

The music, glitz and glamor of the annual awards ceremony shined bright Saturday evening.

As celebrities and community leaders came together to honor those working to carry out Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of a “beloved community.”

Actress Jenifer Lewis, who’s starred in many movies and T.V. shows including Black-ish, received an award during the ceremony.

Actress Jenifer Lewis at the 2025 Beloved Community Awards.

“I’ve had a lot of wonderful occasions in these 68 years, but this is the most wonderful. The glory and the hallelujah of it all when people come together, stand strong and unite,” Lewis said.

Civil rights leaders concerned about homeless man’s death

Civil rights leaders reflect on man crushed by public works truck

Civil rights leaders who came to the King Center’s Beloved Community Awards spent time reflecting on the death of a man who was killed during the clearing of a homeless encampment by an Atlanta City Public Works truck. It happened near Ebenezer Baptist Church.

But the death of a man who was homeless at the hands of an Atlanta City Public Works truck while they were trying to sweep the encampment where he was staying on Old Wheat Street Thursday, happened just a few hundred feet away from The King Center.

Dr. Bernice King, CEO of the King Center and daughter of the late Dr. King lamented the tragedy.

“I just wish that the person who did this would’ve thought about ‘hey let’s check the tents, let’s make sure human beings are not present’ before they cleared out the camp,” King said.

FOX 5 was at another MLK Day event in Stone Mountain and caught up with the President of Hosea Helps Elisabeth Omilami.

Hosea Helps President Elisabeth Omilami

She decried the tragedy and says the death feels too similar to the deaths of the two sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968.

“It reminds me of the gentlemen who were crushed by the garbage truck in Memphis at Martin Luther King’s last speech where he was assassinated in Memphis,” Omilami said.

State President of the NAACP Gerald Griggs was at Saturday’s awards ceremony and says it shows how badly the City needs to make changes.

“We don’t need to move people when we’re having international guests. I think Dr. King would want us to embrace those unhoused brothers and sisters and do more to provide the necessary funds and housing for them,” Griggs said.

How City of Atlanta leaders are responding

In a statement, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said the city will “review each of our processes and procedures and take every precaution to ensure this never happens again.”

Dr. King says the King Center stands ready to help them do that.

“We’re looking forward at The King Center to possibly working with the City to train people on how to carry out what they’re trained to do in a humane way,” King said.

Some activists have accused the City of clearing the homeless encampment because of its proximity to The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Park and the upcoming holiday.

But the City denies that.

In a statement, Cathry Vassell, CEO for Partners for HOME, which works with the City to get people housed, said they had been working with this encampment for months to try and get them off the streets prior to this sweep.

“The first engagement with this encampment began the week of April 5, 2024. Individuals began transitioning to shelter on June 7, 2024. Through these ongoing efforts, 21 individuals have been connected to shelter and housing,” her statement reads.

The Source: Information for this story was provided by the City of Atlanta and gathered by FOX 5 crews at the 2025 Beloved Community Awards Ceremony and Stone Mountain MLK ceremony.

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