Sunday, October 11, 2009
Opinion, Atlanta

FAQ on the Eagle raid

 An elephant in the room, and your questions answered

By Stephanie Ramage

Let’s get an elephant out of the room before we talk anymore about the Atlanta Police Department’s raid on the Atlanta Eagle on Sept. 10.

Last week, the Virginia Highland Church graciously hosted a forum organized by Atlantans Together Against Crime, a forum intended to help Atlantans “move forward” after the Eagle raid. The forum’s panel included gay and straight members of the police department, as well as members of the gay community. Afterward, before I’d even left the church property, I was approached by a couple of gay men who said “things” had been happening at the Eagle, “everyone knows that.”

Please understand, there is absolutely no excuse for anti-gay slurs by police officers, even during a raid. So, when Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality, drew everyone’s attention to the allegations of anti-gay behavior, his doing so was appropriate.

But, rumors of illicit sexual activity at the Eagle, rumors I first heard from gay men, predated reports by plainclothes police officers that such activity was happening on various dates from May 21 of this year into September. Once we’ve acknowledged the possibility that the officers saw what they say they saw, it is easier to move forward. 

With that out of the way, here are some answers to questions that came up during the forum that some readers have said they felt were not well answered by the APD, questions that I am often asked about the raid:

1. Does the APD target gay clubs? Was the raid an attempt to “out” or otherwise embarrass people at the Eagle?

The APD’s license and permits unit made 197 unannounced visits or raids between January 2007 and September 2009 and, of those, only 12 were to gay businesses. Of those 12, not one resulted in any citations or arrests. The vice unit made 47 busts during that same period--30 of which were at the same four massage “spas”--and only one, the Sept. 10 bust of the Eagle, was to a gay establishment. Now, consider one thing more: While some of those vice busts resulted in arrests for embarrassing things like “masturbation for hire,” “prostitution,” “soliciting,” “[lack of] clothing,” etc., the bust at the Eagle resulted in comparatively un-embarrassing citations for lack of permits. Additionally, patrons were not arrested, only employees.

2. The police had no right to make arrests for permit violations, which can be handled with citations, much less to rummage through patrons’ pockets and run their identification through the Atlanta Crime Information Center. Isn’t that so?

No, it’s not. Arrests can be made for permit violations and frequently are. A look at the vice unit’s busts from January 2007 until Sept. 12, 2009 shows that the vast majority of arrests are for permit violations. The police can rummage through your pockets and run your ID info through ACIC during a bust. Sgt. Scott Kreher, president of the local International Brotherhood of Police Officers, says one’s presence during criminal activity makes one subject to the criminal investigation. “Thus, everyone’s ID is subject to being run,” he says. “Due to it being a ‘criminal investigation,’ we have the right to run even victims’ and witnesses’ [IDs].” However, the APD’s Office of Professional Standards is looking into allegations that patrons were unreasonably detained and subjected to anti-gay slurs.

3. Why did the APD bring in the REDDOG unit? They’re the ones who killed Kathryn Johnston during that botched drug raid on Neal Street back in 2006, aren’t they?

No, they’re not. As Deputy Chief Carlos Banda has said, not even one REDDOG officer was at the raid on Neal Street. It was plain old narcotics officers who were involved. As Zone 5 Commander Maj. Khirus Williams expressed during the forum, the REDDOG officers are among the best-trained police anywhere in the state, that’s why they’re the best officers to use in a raid. You might be surprised to learn who’s a former REDDOG officer: Shelitha Robertson, the attorney who jumped into the Eagle fray to help get the arrestees out of jail; and the aforementioned much-admired Sgt. Kreher and Maj. Williams.

4. So, you’re saying it’s just fine that police officers made anti-gay remarks while making people lie face down, scared to death, on the floor of the Eagle?

Not at all. Those comments, if they were made, are utterly inexcusable. I think any police officer who feels the need to say such things to and about people who are already submissively prone, has a problem that no police officer should have. I don’t know if it’s a fire-able offense, but I know I don’t want cops like that on the force.

Which brings us to the big picture beyond the Eagle raid: If you love a cop, you worry about the impact of bad cops. On a good day, bad cops devastate morale throughout the department; on a bad day, they get good cops hurt or killed. One APD officer told me, “Seventy percent of the officers are lazy and stupid, and the rest of us are trying to leave.” The APD definitely needs to work out problems—like the lack of a career ladder—that contribute to its high attrition rate, but it also needs to hire cops who are worth keeping.

An economic downturn is the perfect time for the APD to find smart, motivated, good people to join its force. The APD is hiring. If you’re intelligent, have a love of justice and fair play, and you want to make the world a better place, look inside yourself and see if you’ve got what it takes to be an Atlanta Police officer. If you want to reform the police department, let that reform begin with you.

Atlanta needs hundreds more cops, but we don’t just need warm bodies filling jobs.
The only thing worse than having too few cops, is having too many bad ones. SP