Atlanta's Department of Human Resources has launched an investigation into allegations that the older brother of Mayor Kasim Reed may have driven city vehicles for several years on an expired driver's license, the mayor's office said Thursday.
In addition, officials confirmed the city's law department is investigating an Oct. 28 traffic stop in which Tracy Reed, who has been employed by the city of Atlanta for 12 years, was apparently allowed to drive away without a ticket after being stopped while driving with a suspended license.
At that time, there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest stemming from a failure to appear in court on Oct. 6 to answer charges of driving with a suspended license. The fact that he was allowed to drive away that night raised questions of whether he received special treatment from the police.
Tracy Reed's lawyer, Robert Highsmith, said his client didn't know why the license was suspended or for how long it had been suspended. He said he got Reed's court date reset to Jan. 10 on Thursday and the arrest warrant has been canceled. It is routine to have failure-to-appear warrants withdrawn after a court date is reset.
"It is really a tempest in a teapot," Highsmith said.
Sonji Jacobs Dade, spokeswoman for Mayor Reed, said the twin investigations are being expedited and may be wrapped up within a week, but "We need to do our due diligence and fact-gathering."
The handling of the Oct. 28 traffic stop puzzles some experts.
Police usually arrest someone if they are driving without a valid driver's license and always if they have an outstanding arrest warrant, said William "Bubba" Head, one of the state's most experienced lawyers in traffic court.
“I can’t think of a single one of mine who had a warrant out there and didn’t get arrested,” Head said. "I don't know of any discretion an officer has in that circumstance. ... I don't know how the officer could not make the arrest."
Frank Gomez, a former prosecutor in the Atlanta traffic court, said that driving with a suspended license carried a minimum sentence of two days in jail and a $500 fine for the first offense and 10 days in jail and a $1,000 fine for the second or third offense.
Gomez said licenses could be suspended either for a failure-to-appear in court for traffic violations, for certain kinds of violations or for failure to pay child support.
Dash-camera footage of the traffic stop aired Wednesday on a local TV station. Dade confirmed that the person in the traffic-stop video was the mayor's older brother. The video shows a second officer, a zone commander, approaching Reed's black Lexus and handing Reed his license back.
Tracy Reed, 47, has worked for the city most recently in the Office of Contract Compliance, which serves as a liaison between the city and small businesses or those owned by women and minorities.
On Tuesday, the city learned from the television station that there were allegations that Tracy Reed had driven city vehicles on a suspended license, Dade said. The city immediately opened an investigation headed by Human Resources Commissioner Yvonne Cowser Yancy, Dade said.
On Wednesday, the law department opened a second investigation, this one into the events surrounding the Oct. 28 traffic stop, Dade said.
Tracy Reed is on paid administrative leave. An Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter who called the Office of Contract Compliance Thursday afternoon was told he had left for the day.
Tracy Reed was the subject of a testy exchange two years ago during a debate when Kasim Reed was running for mayor, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Jim Galloway reported at the time. An audience member asked whether Tracy Reed's job with the city created a conflict of interest.
"Am I going to fire my brother if I win the office of mayor?" Reed asked. "I do not plan on firing him. I will recuse myself from any work involving him.
"My brother has behaved in an honorable way," the eventual mayor said. "I love him. He is the closest person to me. And I believe he has done an outstanding job as an employee of the city of Atlanta."
When asked Thursday if the city would fire Reed's brother if the allegations proved true, Dade replied, “At this point, we are going to wait for the investigations to conclude before speculating on next steps."
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