July 14: After a late night of studying for the bar exam at a local hotel, Cobb Commissioner Lisa Cupid was followed by an undercover officer in an unmarked car. She said the car’s action intimidated her - at one point speeding behind her vehicle as if to ram it - and didn’t realize the car following her that night was an undercover police car until uniformed officers responding to her 911 call met her at a convenience store and escorted her home. Police officials said Officer Maurice Lawson was working a detail in response to an increase in stolen vehicle complaints. An investigation by police officials said the officer “acted within departmental policies and guidelines.”
Aug. 11: Commissioner Lisa Cupid said she felt “victimized” by the county administration’s lack of response to her questions about the late-night encounter with Lawson in July and called for a citizen review panel to examine actions and policies of the county police department. Commissioner Bob Weatherford said Cupid owed the police department an apology and that her complaints about police “may impede her ability to govern in her district.” After the full commission did not create a review board Cupid announced the creation of volunteer board that will review citizen complaints against police and report back to her office.
Nov. 16: Officer Maurice Lawson is involved in a late night traffic stop that results in tickets for speeding and failure to maintain lane for a 33-year-old African-American middle school teacher. After the driver asks if he can leave upon receiving the tickets, Lawson responds, “Leave. Go away. Go to Fulton County. I don’t care about your people, man, go.” Lawson has been reassigned to a new police precinct pending an investigation into the incident, and the police department has issued a letter of apology to the driver.
What began as a routine meeting of the Cobb County Commission devolved into a civic melodrama Thursday night, fueled by a major personality conflict and the contentious issue of law enforcement’s relationship with the black community.
A day later, tensions remain high and reconciliation unlikely amid new questions about the brash leadership style of Commission Chairman Tim Lee following his blistering rebuke of District 4 Commissioner Lisa Cupid.
“I am tired of the public accusations and assertions about our police department,” Lee said during a discussion of a possible citizen oversight board to review complaints lodged against police — a proposal Cupid had championed following a highly publicized incident with police last summer in which she was followed by an undercover officer who, at one point, sped behind her car as if to ram it.
“I’m disappointed that the chief perpetrator of these accusations is a commissioner who is not being constructive about seeking legitimate solutions to what she asserts is wrong,” Lee said.
The review was driven by two incidents involving Cobb officer Maurice Lawson, whom Cupid, an African-American, had accused of racially profiling her after he followed her home during the early morning hours of July 14. Cupid wrote a memo to county leadership saying Lawson, who is white, was there to "harass and intimidate" rather than protect and serve.
Then, in November, Lawson generated further backlash after he pulled over a black motorist and told him, "I don't care about your people."
But Lee, while supporting further study of Cupid's demand for more police oversight, said she has done little to move the proposal forward.
Accusing her of seeking to “create a media spectacle,” Lee did just that, angering several constituents and prompting the state chapter of the NAACP to announce late Friday it has contacted the U.S. Justice Department “to examine patterns and practices within the Cobb County Police Department,” according to Francys Johnson, president of the civil rights organization.
“I am disappointed that Chairman Tim Lee chose overheated rhetoric that discourages problem solving rather than working with Cobb’s strong civic leadership to address this issues head on,” Johnson said in a statement.
Cobb SCLC President Ben Williams, who attended Thursday’s meeting, said Lee’s remarks served to energize those favoring an independent review board.
“We now know clearly where the source of rogue police behavior comes from,” Williams told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Friday. “That was one of the louder dog whistles I’ve ever heard. He is speaking to that segment of the population that believes in the infallibility of law enforcement, especially when it comes to their dealings with minorities.”
Williams accused Lee of “bullying” Cupid, and while Lee apologized for his tone the chairman stood behind his criticism of the board’s lone black member.
“Chairman Lee believes his position was misunderstood,” his spokeswoman, Kellie Brownlow, said in an email to The AJC. “His position on this matter is clearly communicated in the agenda item that was adopted by the board last night.”
Lee’s recommendation, reached without Cupid’s input and approved Thursday night, calls for Cobb’s public safety director and county manager to evaluate current procedures involving citizen complaints and whether that process needed to be changed.
Cupid, according to Lee, “has refused to seek a constructive solution.”
District 1 Commissioner Bob Weatherford said that while Lee’s tone was inappropriate, his criticism of Cupid was not.
“It came out of frustration,” Weatherford said Friday. “I’ve tried to work with her. Chairman Lee has tried to work with her. But it’s very hard when you have to make an appointment with someone who has an office right next to you.”
Williams, the SCLC president, said Lee’s criticism was unwarranted because “no one is attacking the department, just a few rogue officers.”
“What the chairman did was to tell those officers that he’s got their back,” he said.
Cupid did not respond to a request for comment. She defended herself against Lee’s broadside during the meeting, saying Officer Lawson, not her, was to blame for the “media firestorm.”
“When I saw the disrespectful response to how I complained about my incident, are they not bolstered when they hear their chairman take these type of views?” she said. “If anybody has the ability to bring people together, it is you, Chairman Lee, but instead I have seen you, not just on this incident but on too many — you are the source of contention for many issues on this board.”
After she was cut off by Lee, Cupid, visibly shaken, left the building. She was spotted outside after apparently fainting. Following a brief examination by paramedics, Cupid returned to the meeting and was greeted by extended applause.
District 2 Commissioner Bob Ott said he was disheartened by the “personal attacks that took the meeting in a wrong direction.”
“The true intent of the the agenda item was lost in what happened,” Ott said, adding that Lee should have included Cupid in discussions about police oversight.
“On certain agenda items, once there’s three votes (out of five) that’s it,” he said. “Let’s at least have a conversation involving everyone.’
For his part, Lee insisted that Cobb is “moving forward with exactly the kind of review that Commissioner Cupid and some in the community are requesting.”
When asked Friday if he stands behind his criticism of Cupid, Lee responded, “Yes.”
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