An Atlanta Police officer given permission by the city’s top cop to use emergency “blue lights” to transport Mayor Kasim Reed is facing four misdemeanor charges stemming from a September Cobb County crash in which he was rushing the mayor to a meeting.
Sgt. Stephen Nichols, who had already been reprimanded by the Atlanta Police Department for the Sept. 9 accident, will be arraigned on Jan. 18 in Cobb County on charges he drove too fast for conditions, failed to maintain lane, improperly made a U-turn and for improper use of sirens.
The charges incensed some in Atlanta law enforcement, who think Nichols is taking the fall for a mayor who is often running late and retiring Police Chief George Turner’s decision to back Reed at the expense of officers.
“Its’ an unlawful order,” Vincent Champion, southeast director of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers and a critic of Reed’s use of emergency lights, said Monday of the charges. He said Nichols is in a Catch 22 because he is following instructions that put him at risk of causing accidents or breaking the law.
Former Gov. Roy Barnes has been hired to represent Nichols, according to officials. Mayor Reed’s office declined to comment and referred all questions to Barnes.
Ken Allen, a former president of the Atlanta chapter of the Fraternal Brotherhood of Police Officers, said citizen safety should not be put in jeopardy because the mayor is late for a meeting.
Echoing Champion, he said he worried Nichols would pay the price on his own personal insurance for following instructions.
Go to myajc.com for more information.
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