The Fulton Board of Commissioners today postponed action on a proposal critics say will make it easier for elected officials to get rides from on-duty police officers.
Fulton prohibits county commissioners from using police officers as drivers except when they face a documented threat to their safety. That threat is supposed to be documented by a police report – a requirement meant to prevent commissioners from treating police drivers like chauffeurs.
Commissioners approved the requirement 10 years ago amid a public backlash over reports that some of them routinely used police officers to taxi them around town. But a recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation found commissioners have been ignoring their own rules for years.
The investigation found commissioners used police drivers at least 79 times in recent years but didn’t file any police reports documenting threats against them. The newspaper found evidence that the police rides are more about convenient transportation for commissioners than protection from threats.
Commissioners have been discussing a proposal to eliminate the requirement to file a police report. It was scheduled to be discussed again at today’s meeting, but commissioners voted to hold the item until their next meeting in two weeks.
Proponents say commissioners face legitimate threats to their safety and the change will give Police Chief Cassandra Jones the flexibility she needs to protect them. Opponents see the practice of using police drivers as a waste of taxpayer resources; they say if the threats are legitimate commissioners should file police reports to prove it.
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