CBS Atlanta 46Dozens of police officers' arrest powers revoked, 400 certifications incomplete

Dozens of police officers' arrest powers revoked, 400 certifications incomplete

New details are surfacing, about a story we first broke. The certifications of hundreds of Atlanta police officers are in question and dozens have lost their arrest powers. That could invalidate countless arrests and the convictions of dangerous criminals.

"Their arrests are no good. Pure and simple. Those arrests can be challenged," said Ken Vance, the Executive Director of the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council.

Police are just now releasing information about the scope of the problem. The department is about two thirds of the way through its audit. They've uncovered about 400 certification and training issues that span back as far as 20 years.

"I don't have time to point fingers, my hands are full with an 1,800 person audit right now," said Maj. Jeff Glazier.

Glazier is the police department's director of training. He is spearheading the department's audit.

Glazier said the department's certification issues range from officers having incomplete background checks, to inadequate training with firearms and the use of deadly force. CBS Atlanta has learned several of the issues involve cadets whose fingerprints were never turned in, a crucial step required by law to insure the officers do not have a criminal background.

"Did those fingerprints even go through the system?" reporter Wendy Saltzman asked Glazier.

"That I don't know," he said.

"Whose responsibility is this?" Saltzman asked Chris Beamud, the director of Atlanta's citizen review board.

"This is the administration's responsibility," Beamud said.

And Beamud warns the impact could be devastating.

"There may be some people in prison who may have their criminal convictions overturned and they don't deserve to have those criminal convictions overturned. They need to be in a secure facility," she told Saltzman.

Beamud fears these lapses in certification have the potential to cause a major backlash in criminal cases.

"All of the evidence and the arrest itself can be suppressed. And from a criminal standpoint that can be problematic and that is dangerous to the citizens," she said.

"This is a book keeping fiasco if you will," Vance agreed.

According to the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council director, officers who lack the proper training are not authorized to use police arrest powers.

"What about the officers without training?" Saltzman asked.

"Oh, that's bad. That's bad," Vance said.

And even the smallest paperwork mistakes could call an officer's credibility into question.

"Could a defense attorney argue they were not certified?" Saltzman questioned.

"Defense attorneys can argue a lot of things," Vance said.

This audit is still continuing so the police department isn't yet sure of the complete scope of the problem. They expect the review of the final 600 officers to be complete by Sept. 15t.

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