Fulton commissioners use on-duty police for rides to meetings, appearances

Commissioners have asked officers to drive them to the airport, to concerts and to scores of other public events in recent years, even though county rules forbid using police officers to transport elected officials, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation has found.

The only avenue for commissioners to request rides from police is to ask for “executive protection,” and that’s only allowed when there are documented threats. But requests for protection reviewed by the newspaper suggest many of the rides given in the past five years have little to do with safety.

One example: In 2009, Mark Massey, clerk to the Commission, asked Fulton County Police Chief Cassandra Jones to offer rides to commissioners from their homes to a meeting in north Fulton. In an e-mail to the chief, Massey said the rides were needed because of the travel distance for some commissioners, the late hour, the age of some older commissioners and the risk of thunderstorms.

The chief agreed, and two commissioners – Emma Darnell and Bill Edwards – accepted the offer.

The protection requests examined by the AJC indicate that driving commissioners has taken officers off regular duties for hundreds of hours since 2009. But they don’t reveal exactly how much time officers have spent with commissioners or how much the practice has cost taxpayers.

Of the metro area’s largest local governments, Fulton is the only one to offer police drivers to part-time elected officials. Cobb and Gwinnett counties do not provide police drivers to elected officials. Atlanta provides full-time police protection — including a police driver — for its mayor, and DeKalb County provides the same for its chief executive. Unlike Fulton commissioners, the Atlanta mayor and DeKalb CEO are full-time officials.

Jones defended the practice of providing police drivers to Fulton commissioners. She said it happens infrequently and costs little in time or money. She said the officers involved usually hold administrative jobs – like public relations or internal affairs officers – and wouldn’t otherwise be responding to 911 calls. The officers get special training in executive protection.

Jones said commissioners need police drivers because they face serious threats to their safety from angry or disturbed individuals. She thinks the county policy should be changed and wishes she could devote some officers full-time to protecting commissioners.

“The way they work for the public, they deserve protection all the time,” Jones said. “At any given time, something could go wrong.”

But the practice strikes some taxpayers and commissioners as more a convenience than a necessity.

“It seems to me if there are valid threats against the commissioners that a police report ought to be filed,” said Jim Honkisz, president of the Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation. “Unless a police report is filed, it seems to me what they’re doing is a misuse of a public asset.”

Scores of “protection” requests

After receiving tips that Fulton commissioners routinely got rides from police officers, the AJC sought copies of “executive protection” requests from Jan. 1, 2009, through the end of 2013. It also requested related documents, including police reports ,used to justify the protection. Among the newspaper’s findings:

Jones said officers drive commissioners to public events in unmarked police cars. They usually stay close to commissioners during events, but sometimes take a break. She said the duty typically takes no more than three hours, though the AJC found examples of officers driving commissioners to multiple events over the course of a day.

Darnell got police escorts to and from the airport, commission meetings, concerts and a host of other events. She said her requests for protection have all been for county business. She said they usually have been evening events with more than 100 people, where her safety might be in question.

Darnell said she has not filed police reports and hopes she never has to. But she still feels the need for protection.

“Unfortunately, we live in a dangerous world,” she said. “I wish it wasn’t necessary, but it is.”

Edwards said he’s been threatened on numerous occasions – sometimes by people who have asked him to step outside for a fight. He said he hasn’t filed police reports about such incidents. “I’m not trying to ruin anybody because they got mad. I understand your anger, but I try to move on.”

Edwards said commissioners make decisions about zoning and other matters that affect people’s investments, so it’s not surprising they sometimes become angry when things don’t go their way. He said he’d be fine giving up protection, but thinks it should be available for the three women commissioners.

“It’s Daylight Savings Time now, but other times it’s dark (in the evening),” Edwards said. “I’ve told them all, at night, call somebody to take you.”

Hausmann said she’s never felt the need for executive protection. Her lone ride came during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration shortly after she took office in 2011. She said the police department insisted on accompanying her, and, because she was attending with her elderly father, she agreed. But she declined an offer for both of them to be picked up at their homes, instead meeting the officer at the county government center downtown.

“I thought it was ridiculous that they wanted to drive all the way up to Johns Creek to pick me up, then over to Duluth to pick up my dad, then back downtown (for the event),” Hausmann said.

A history of controversy

Commissioners’ transportation has long been a matter of controversy in Fulton County. For years, commissioners had their own county-leased vehicles, but a public outcry forced them to end the practice in 1988. Some past commissioners also took flak for using taxpayers dollars to employ drivers to chauffeur them around.

Ten years ago, news that some Fulton County commissioners routinely got police drivers helped sink former Commissioner Karen Webster’s campaign to become chairman. Then-candidate Karen Handel pledged to end the practice if elected.

In February 2004, Handel, who became chairman, pushed commissioners to adopt the current policy. It prohibits the use of public safety employees for transportation purposes. The exception: Elected officials are entitled to “executive protection” if there is “a substantiated threat or risk of bodily harm” documented in a police report filed with the police chief. The chief must assess the threat to determine if executive protection is warranted.

Jones said the rule “may be a good political policy, but it’s not a good public safety policy.”

She said she’d rather be proactive – offering commissioners protection even without a police report – than react to a tragedy. She cited the 2011 shooting of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona. Six people died and 13 were wounded — including Giffords — in that incident.

Asked to provide an example of a threat to a commissioner, Jones cited a 2012 Facebook post about Pitts, apparently from someone angry about his views on animal welfare. The comment said it was “past time to get rid of this parasite” and said it was “time to give him a taste of what he does to the animals and people.”

Pitts said he was unaware of the comment and doesn’t feel the need for police protection.

Robert Gardner, a California-based security expert, said that, while elected officials face serious threats, a single officer can provide only limited protection. And, he said, public figures often treat security as a mark of prestige.

“Just to say, I’m going to have a driver who carries a gun, that’s not protection,” Gardner said.“That’s an armed driver. That’s a chauffeur with a gun.”

Eaves, the commission chairman, acknowledged safety isn’t his top concern when he requests police protection. He said he generally uses it when attending high-profile events like visits from President Barack Obama. He said it’s easier to get through security at such events with a police escort than if he drives his own car.

Eaves said commissioners may need to revise the policy to reflect current practice. Pitts said commissioners should follow the policy, but he’s open to changing it if the chief thinks it’s best.

Hausmann said the policy requiring a police report should be enforced. She said the police rides look bad at a time when the county is contemplating layoffs to balance its budget.

“What you’re describing to me sounds more like a driver’s service than executive protection,” she said. “I think that it is not necessary for a Fulton County commissioner to have that sort of perk.”