An investigation found Sandy Springs police violated city policies by leaving their assigned posts to take side jobs and accepting more money than allowed for off-duty work. But it does not appear employees violated state law, City Attorney Wendell Willard said Saturday.

"I felt comfortable with the results of the investigation, that there were no crimes committed," Willard said.

The investigator's report, prepared by a former FBI agent whose firm was hired by the city, ended in the recent resignations of Police Chief Gene Wilson and Maj. James Moore, and the firings of two police supervisors, Lt. Trudi Vaughan and Sgt. Tanya Smith.

On Saturday, several city officials said they were stunned and disappointed at the findings.

The report by James Walker, investigator for U.S. ISS Agency, detailed examples of officers being directed to leave their assigned shifts, Willard said. But it appears officers did not collect pay for working the same hours from the city and private employers, but later worked the lost shift time.

"They would put into their time records they were making up time," Willard said.

Still, City Council members described the practice as unacceptable because it left some police shifts short.

"They are supposed to be in a job, on their beat, and they were pulled off that beat duty so they could plug a hole in a vacancy for an off-duty [job]?" Council Member Karen Meinzen-McInerny said. "Of course I was stunned."

Besides launching a search for a new police chief, the city plans to draft more specific policies on when officers can work outside jobs, such as directing traffic outside schools.

Sandy Springs needs to institute a more businesslike culture among the department's senior leaders, said Councilman Rusty Paul, "people who will insist that when officers are on-duty, they're on-duty... and that their primary responsibility is to the community."

Among other problems, the investigator's report criticized several officers for accepting more than the $50 hourly rate allowed by the city for outside jobs.

Vaughan, who led the special operations team including SWAT officers and gang and narcotics teams, was criticized for allowing 20 special operations officers to participate in training that included riding all-terrain vehicles and motorcycles.

Vaughan said this week her firing was unjustified and politically motivated. She said it was "common practice" at the department for officers to be allowed to pick up off-duty work that became open on short notice.

"Other supervisors have done similar things," she said in an interview Thursday after she was fired. "And they haven't been disciplined."

The investigator's report also criticized Wilson and Moore for accepting guns as a gift from Bruce Weiner, a Sandy Springs businessman and a leader of Friends of Sandy Springs, a non-profit organization that raises funds for police and fire services.

Though the gifts didn't violate city policy, the report stated, the chief and major should have been aware of the perception receiving them would create.

Weiner could not be reached for comment. Several telephone messages were left Saturday at his home phone number. Moore also could not be reached for comment Saturday.

The investigation began in mid-June, after officers disturbed by the activities disclosed their concerns to a high-level commander, according to the 900-page investigator's report released by the city Friday.

The internal investigation became an outside review once city officials found indications of more widespread problems.

That move should deflect any criticism the investigation was politically motivated, said Council Member Dianne Fries.

"Sandy Springs wants to be a different kind of government," Fries said. "We have very high standards. I guess this is the first time it has really been tested."