Pendergrass City places police chief on paid suspension after evidence-room audit
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Summary
At a Sept. 9 work session, city officials said the police chief was placed on paid administrative suspension after an audit found 14 missing evidence items; the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the district attorney are investigating and the city has begun evidence-room security upgrades.
Speaker 1, an unidentified presiding official, told the Pendergrass City work session on Sept. 9 that the city had placed the police chief on paid suspension after an audit found 14 missing items from the department evidence room. Speaker 1 said the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the district attorney were investigating and that the council would await their recommendations before taking further action.
The city described immediate steps taken to tighten evidence controls. Speaker 1 said two officers must sign out any item removed from the evidence room; drugs removed are reweighed on return; cameras have been installed; and the city ordered locking metal cabinets from Uline to replace wooden shelving. "We had to secure the shelves," Speaker 1 said when describing the procurement of metal cabinets and locked storage.
Council members discussed who would run the department while the chief is suspended. Speaker 1 said "Major Pull" is acting police chief and that internal investigators and the chief investigator coordinate access with staff. The council emphasized maintaining chain-of-custody procedures while the criminal inquiry proceeds.
The work session did not include a vote on employment action; Speaker 1 framed the suspension as an administrative step taken under the city’s police code of ethics and tied to an external criminal inquiry. The next procedural step the city identified is to await the GBI and district attorney findings before pursuing any further disciplinary or administrative measures.
The city said it would continue to brief the council as the investigation progresses.
