When Chattanooga celebrated Celeste Murphy as its first Black female police chief two years ago, the Atlanta Police Department, where she got her start in law enforcement, used the opportunity to tout its reputation as an incubator for big-city leaders.
At that time, Atlanta had “birthed more than 50 former officers who have become chiefs at various law enforcement agencies,” department spokesperson Chata Spikes confirmed. Murphy, who had spent 25 years with the department and had served as deputy chief since 2020, was the latest shining example.
“(The) Atlanta Police Department is a good training ground for law enforcement and police leadership,” Spikes proudly added.
That reputation, however, has taken multiple blows in recent weeks.
At least three top cops in three different departments have resigned or been fired, and one of them — Murphy — faces criminal charges for allegedly lying about her residency on official documents. The others are former Memphis assistant police Chief Shawn Jones and Louisville’s former Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel.
While they represent only a small group of Atlanta police alums who have gone on to land key leadership jobs with other departments, they were each high-profile hires that failed.
It illustrates some of the difficulties of taking on a high-stakes job with constant pressure, both internally and externally. Not all can successfully make that leap to be the face of a department.
History made in Chattanooga
It was a historic occasion in Chattanooga when Murphy was selected to lead its police department in February 2022. The Tennessee city, just two hours from Atlanta, had high hopes for its new chief. She’d been hand-picked out of four finalists by a newly elected mayor, who lauded her “lifelong commitment to civil rights and community policing.”
So when news broke earlier this year that Murphy was under state investigation for allegedly falsifying government records, it was a major hit to the department’s “deteriorating morale,” police union representatives said at the time. She was indicted on 17 charges June 25 and resigned the next day.
The charges include illegal voter registration, false entries on official documents, three counts of falsifying government records, three counts of forgery, three counts of perjury and six counts of official misconduct.
She is accused of listing a Tennessee home as her primary residence on her voter registration, which was used to prove her in-state residency so that she could work for the city of Chattanooga. But records later revealed that she still owned her home in Fulton County and was receiving a homestead exemption for tax purposes. To qualify for the tax break, the home must be the owner’s primary residence, according to Georgia law.
In Tennessee, law enforcement officers are not required to live within the state. However, Hamilton County, which encompasses Chattanooga, is exempt from that state law due to a court order under the Federal Voting Rights Act.
Murphy defended herself in a department-wide email obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, telling her officers, “I do still have family in Atlanta and do still own property there, but rest assured that my commitment is to Chattanooga and this department.”
“I live and work in Chattanooga and that’s where my residence is,” she wrote.
She also told the Chattanooga Times Free Press, “Like many homeowners, I filed for my homestead exemption after purchasing that house when I still lived in Atlanta, and I haven’t revisited it since. I will contact my tax preparer and make sure I’m compliant with Georgia tax rules.”
Regardless, a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation probe found that Murphy had “knowingly entered false information on several government documents related to establishing residency in Chattanooga.”
On Tuesday, there was only one vehicle in the driveway of Murphy’s Atlanta home, which is tucked away amid trees at the end of a well-manicured cul-de-sac. The well-to-do neighborhood boasts large, two-story brick and stucco homes in southwest Atlanta, just off Cascade Road.
A neighbor, who did not identify himself, told the AJC that he hadn’t seen Murphy there, only her children.
A spokesperson for the Fulton County Board of Assessors, which investigates false claims of homestead exemption, said the board had “recently become aware of this and are looking into it” but did not respond to further inquiries about whether an investigation was underway.
Georgia law states that it is a misdemeanor to falsely claim a homestead exemption, and those found in violation will have to pay double the tax that would have been owed.
Morale concerns in Memphis
Similar issues played out in west Tennessee earlier this month when it was revealed that Jones, who joined the Memphis Police Department three years ago, still lived and voted in Fulton County, according to the Commercial Appeal.
Jones, who retired from APD in 2016 after 30 years with the department, was fired last week.
Leaders there, however, said the firing was not due to his residency status. Mayor Paul Young told the Memphis newspaper that he dismissed Jones due to repeated concerns that had been raised about department morale.
“I mean, ever since I’ve come into office, there have been dialogues around the morale of the force and the things that people are upset about or frustrated with internally, and one of the names that would come up would be (Jones),” Young said.
The city’s interim chief, Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis, also got her start with APD ― and her career almost ended there in 2008. She was fired for her alleged involvement in a botched sex crimes investigation into the husband of an Atlanta police sergeant, the AJC previously reported. She was eventually reinstated.
While in Memphis, she has faced heavy scrutiny since last year when a video surfaced showing five officers beating 29-year-old Tyre Nichols, who died three days later. The officers were quickly fired and indicted on second-degree murder and other charges.
Louisville says goodbye to second APD alum
Around the same time as Murphy’s indictment last month, Gwinn-Villaroel resigned as Louisville’s police chief after she had been suspended for mishandling a sexual harassment complaint, the Associated Press reported.
One of her police majors raised the complaint against a fellow major during a command staff meeting, and Gwinn-Villaroel went on to promote the accused major to lieutenant colonel during the same meeting.
Gwinn-Villaroel was the third full-time Louisville chief to resign or be fired since the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor during a botched drug raid in 2020.
APD did not respond to multiple requests for comment about this story.
Gwinn-Villaroel was hired in Louisville by another familiar name: former APD Chief Erika Shields. One day after Rayshard Brooks was shot and killed by an Atlanta officer in 2020, Shields stepped down following the backlash amid civil rights protests across the nation. She later took the chief’s job in the northern Kentucky city, eventually leaving her post at the end of 2022 when the newly elected mayor did not retain her for the top position.
Still, many other APD alums have gone on to lead other departments, including South Fulton police Chief Keith Meadows and Clark Atlanta University police Chief Debra Williams. Several others have retired following decades of leadership, such as former Woodstock Chief Calvin Moss, and some have moved into the private sector. Shields, for example, is now an executive at InVeris, a Suwanee-based company that provides training tools for law enforcement.
As with most hiring processes, there are going to be successes and failures.
While acknowledging the challenges that come with taking the top job in a new department, Meadows said having so many mentors at APD helped prepare him to build South Fulton’s police department from the ground up.
“I was over Atlanta’s homicide unit for 11 of my 30 years there,” he said. “And when you experience things at a really high level, it certainly shapes your ability to lead in a lot of different environments.”
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