Updated Thursday at 10:17 p.m.
Atlanta police officers called out sick or refused to answer calls Thursday to protest the filing of murder charges against an officer who shot a man in the back, while the interim chief said members of the force feel abandoned amid protests demanding massive changes to policing.
Interim Chief Rodney Bryant told The Associated Press in an interview that the sick calls began Wednesday night and continued Thursday, but said the department has sufficient staff to protect the city. It’s not clear how many officers have called out.
“Some are angry. Some are fearful. Some are confused on what we do in this space. Some may feel abandoned,” Bryant said of the officers. “But we are there to assure them that we will continue to move forward and get through this.”
On Thursday, the Atlanta Police Foundation announced that APD officers will receive a $500 bonus as a reward for their works during weeks of protests decrying excessive use of force. The Foundation says it will spend some $2 million on the bonuses, as well as donating gift cards to officers for meals at restaurants, replacing and repairing around 20 patrol cars, and buying police bicycles and off-road vehicles meant for tactical operations.
The foundation, which is privately funded, says the bonuses and gift cards are meant to stem attrition and boost officer morale. But they’re not being universally well received.
“The Atlanta police department has so much to do to regain public trust and confidence and handing out these bonuses before Rayshard Brooks has even been buried is highly questionable,” said Sarah Totonchi, executive director of the Southern Center for Human Rights.
Prosecutors brought felony murder and other charges against Garrett Rolfe, a white officer who shot Brooks after the 27-year-old black man grabbed a Taser and ran, firing it at the officer, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said.
Howard said that Brooks was not a deadly threat at the time and that the officer kicked the wounded black man and offered no medical treatment for over two minutes as he lay dying. Another officer, Devin Brosnan, who the district attorney said stood on Brooks’ shoulder as he struggled for his life, was charged with aggravated assault and violation of his oath.
Rolfe and Brosnan both turned themselves in Thursday. Jail records show Brosnan was released on a signature bond, meaning he only has to pay if he fails to show up for court, while Rolfe was being held without bond. Rolfe has been fired and Brosnan placed on desk duty.
A few hours after reporting to the Fulton County jail in Atlanta, Rolfe was moved to the jail in Gwinnett County, according to online record. Rolfe was not given a bond.
Howard has announced he will not seek the death penalty in the case.
Less than 24 hours after Friday’s shooting, police chief Erika Shields resigned, and Bryant took over on an interim basis.
Bryant wore a navy blue shirt Thursday, rather than the white shirt typically worn by command staff, to show solidarity with the officers.
“This is the uniform that the men and women of the police department wear, and I felt that it was important that they have an understanding that we are one organization, and we will dress as one organization,” he said.
In the roughly three weeks since protests first broke out in Georgia’s capital after George Floyd was killed by police in Minnesota, officers have worked shifts of 12 or more hours and have been yelled at, spit on and had things thrown at them, Bryant said.
“At some point, people get tired, I recognize that, and physically exhausted,” he said. “But we’ll get beyond that. We will definitely get beyond it and I’m certain that we will see our sick-outs drop back to normal, average.”
The decision to prosecute the officers came less than five days after the killing rocked a city — and a nation — still reeling after Floyd’s killing set off nationwide protests that have urged an extensive rethink of policing and an examination of racism in the United States. On Wednesday night, the largest labor group in the Seattle area voted to expel the city’s police union, saying the guild representing officers failed to address racism within its ranks.
Bryant said he was surprised at how quickly Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard reached the decision to charge the officers, noting that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation hadn’t yet had time to finish looking into the shooting.
He would not say how many officers called out, but just one officer showed up for work Thursday morning in Zone 6, which covers much of Atlanta’s east side and which several dozen are assigned to patrol, said Vince Champion, southeast regional director for the International Brotherhood of Police Officers.
Atlanta officers are walking off their shifts or not responding to calls because they feel “abandoned, betrayed, used in a political game,” Champion told the AP.
“What they realized is that the city, meaning the mayor and the police department, does not support them,” Champion said.
Champion said he’s heard from several officers that they fear using force to protect themselves will get them fired or arrested.
Brooks’ funeral is set for Tuesday at Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, which was the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s congregation, the Rev. Raphael Warnock announced. Tyler Perry, the actor and filmmaker, has offered financial help for the services, officials said.
WABE freelancer Emily Green contributed to this report.
