A Cobb police detective is under scrutiny from the department over a derogatory comment he made on social media about the death of an inmate at the county jail.
Jeff Edgecomb posted the comment on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Facebook page under an article titled, “Cobb, Marietta investigating ‘unexplained’ jail death” about the death of 31-year-old Jessie Myles.
“Non news story ... a doper has a medical event and died at the hospital, not the jail,” Edgecomb wrote. “Why are we reading about this??”
Myles, who died in custody of the Cobb Sheriff’s Office, was a passenger arrested during a traffic stop by Marietta Police. Officers said he had an outstanding warrant and drugs on his person.
A spokesman for the police department said Cobb police could be called in to investigate Myles’ death, depending on the outcome of the current inquiry. In response to a question about the department’s social media policy, the spokesman cited the police policy on “unbecoming conduct.”
Police Chief Mike Register, who took over in 2017 and has emphasized community-police relations as a top priority, said the department was looking into the matter and will address it through the "internal process."
“The Cobb County Police Department wants to facilitate mutual respect and transparency and when issues are brought to our attention concerning department personnel,” Register said. “As Chief, I want each citizen to feel they are a valued member of the community and will receive a consistent level of of service and respect from all CCPD personnel.”
Ben Williams of the Cobb chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference called Edgecomb’s comment “absolutely unacceptable,” but that he trusted the chief to deal with the officer appropriately.
“It is an absolutely excellent example of bad judgement,” Williams said. “That’s the greater concern, is that it reflects poorly on the department and the efforts that I know are underway to really increase the confidence in the community regarding our police department being a department we can trust.”
