Police chief retires after botched accreditation bid

Review team found ‘overwhelming lack of documentation.’

The police chief for the small Dekalb County town of Avondale Estates has retired after his department botched its attempt at earning state accreditation, city officials announced late Monday.

The quest for accreditation through the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police was part of a larger effort by the city to change its reputation for being unwelcoming and, in some cases, racist.

The voluntary process certifies that local police agencies have well-documented, state-approved policies and procedures, and that they train their officers according to those standards.

City leaders were informed late last week that now-former chief Lynn Thomas and his 15-member department did not pass muster.

The GACP review team cited “an overwhelming lack of documentation” and other compliance issues related to evidence storage and training. More than one-third of the department’s 139 documented standards were deemed noncompliant.

The evaluation was called off on the afternoon of the second day.

“I would feel irresponsible recommending certification for the agency, based on the number of compliance issues and the amount of work still needing to be done to bring the agency’s policies up to standard,” Valerie M. Johnson, the review team’s leader, wrote in her report.

The department’s accreditation manager, Lt. Duanne Thompson, resigned following the failed review, city officials said. Johnson described him as having an “apathetic attitude” during the process.

Capt. Paul Conroy, who was described as a long-time veteran of Avondale police, will take over as acting chief following Thomas’ retirement.

“The city remains steadfast in its commitment to the community’s well-being and safety and will continue to pursue accreditation,” city officials said in a news release. “Additionally, the city will explore enlisting a third-party expert to review all police standard operating procedures.”

Thomas joined the department as a patrol officer in 2002 and worked his way up through the ranks. He was promoted to chief in 2016, just a few months after thendekalb County District Attorney Robert James declined to charge him for shooting and killing an unarmed Black man.

A civil grand jury had “strongly recommended” Thomas be charged in the 2013 shooting that left 20-year-old Jayvis Benjamin dead.

Even with the now-former chief ’s history set aside, the Avondale Estates Police Department has a long-held reputation for being overly aggressive — particularly with Black motorists.

In 2019, the small department issued nearly 4,000 traffic citations and collected more than $630,000 in fines and forfeitures. That total accounted for more than 11% of the city’s total revenue.

The city’s residents are about 90% white, but City Manager Patrick Bryant has said that around 75% of drivers cited in any given year are Black.

The issue is complicated, with a major highway running through the city and most of the surrounding communities boasting large Black populations. But it garnered new attention from some residents last summer, as a string of high-profile police shootings renewed the national conversation about systemic racism and law enforcement.

A group called the Avondale Alliance for Racial Justice has pushed city commissioners to initiate a third-party review of the police department and install the 21st Century Policing Implementation Guide put forth by then-president Barack Obama in 2015.

City leaders, meanwhile, have taken other small strides to try and shake off the stigma of insularity and exclusion that was baked into its founding as a whites-only enclave in the early 1900s.

A lock on the gate that separates the nearby neighborhood of Forrest Hills from Avondale’s Willis Park has been removed. Signs warning nonresidents away from Avondale Lake were reworded a few years ago.

Officials hope a new town green that’s currently under construction will become a welcoming space for the city’s 3,000 or so residents — and visitors, too.

COURTESY OF NICK RASAY With family and friends looking on, now former police chief Lynn Thomas was sworn in to lead Avondale Estates’ police department in 2016.