Mayor calls meeting to address police issues

Avondale Estates Mayor Jonathan Elmore has called a special called meeting of the Board of Mayor and Commissioners for 5:30 p.m. today, according to a press release.

The focus of the meeting is to discuss the next steps for the police department.

The city manager will provide an update to the BOMC on plans to recruit a new police chief, requests for proposals to solicit a third party to conduct a review of the police department’s operations, and the steps being taken to address issues identified in the certification process conducted by the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police.

Last month, Police Chief Lynn Thomas retired abruptly after the state accreditation agency found that the 15-member department was lacking in areas needed to achieve state accreditation.

After history of exclusion and racism, the city sought to change its reputation. One step was with the police force. The voluntary accreditation process certifies that local police agencies have well-documented, state-approved policies and procedures,

that they train their officers according to those standards.

An AJC report showed that 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 documentedstandards were deemed non-compliant.

The evaluation was called off before it was completed. Now the city is looking to clean up the mess.

The special called meeting is set to take place online via the Zoom platform. Questions and comments will be accepted. As a reminder, participants are allowed to ask one question or comment and are limited to three minutes. Participant’s questions may only be directed to the BOMC.

Information: avondaleestates.org