The Roswell police chief announced Wednesday he is leaving his post at the end of the year, months after several of his officers became the subjects of misconduct investigations.
Rusty Grant, who has been the chief since 2013, is retiring effective Dec. 30. Captain Helen Dunkin is set to become the interim chief.
“The Roswell Police Department consists of the best men and women, sworn and civilian, in the business,” Grant said in a statement released by the city. “It has been my pleasure to work with each of you over the last six years.”
In September, the city approved to pay an outside consulting firm more than $77,000 to conduct a review of the police department.
In a proposal to the city, the D.C.-based firm Center for Public Safety Management LLC wrote, “We understand that the police department is currently suffering from a series of incidents which have raised questions about the professionalism and culture of the agency.”
Over the past year, some Roswell officers made headlines over a series of blunders.
In November, a Roswell sergeant was demoted to the rank of police officer II after body camera video showed him leaving a 13-year-old boy in a cold patrol car and taunting him in January. He had been placed on paid administrative leave in July, more than six months after the incident.
In April, two officers used a coin toss to decide whether to arrest a woman during a traffic stop. The officers were put on administrative leave pending an internal investigation in July.
And on March 10, officers pulled over an off-duty officer and let him go with a warning after he admitted to speeding and drinking alcohol before driving.
Grant, who served as deputy police chief before becoming chief, had more than 30 years of experience with the GBI before working in Roswell.
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