ATLANTA — Atlanta Police morale plummeted after city officials decided to fire an officer involved in the incident that led to the death of Rayshard Brooks in 2020.
Officers Garrett Rolfe and Devin Brosnan responded to an Atlanta Wendy's on June 12, 2020 where they got into an altercation with Brooks. Video shows Rolfe shot and killed Brooks after he grabbed his Taser. Brosnan responded to the DUI call with Rolfe. Following termination, Rolfe was later reinstated. APD confirmed Tuesday that both officers still work with the department.
City officials have said that the drain of talent in Atlanta’s Police Department has abated. Yet, APD has been among many departments struggling to hire new police and keep the ones they have.
A few weeks ago, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens announced bonuses designed to keep Atlanta officers from bailing out of APD and finding work elsewhere. Yet the politics and community outrage that led to Rolfe's firing -- and criminal charges against Rolfe and officer Devin Brosnan -- became a part of the police department’s collective psyche.
The decision to drop the criminal charges could help APD heal, said councilman Michael Julian Bond, a member of the council's public safety committee.
"It wasn’t the incident itself. It was the handling of the officers that drove a lot of people to leave APD because it didn’t follow its own rules, the city of Atlanta didn’t follow its own procedures when it came to dealing with the employment status of those officers," Bond said. "I hope APD can and will continue to recruit as many people as possible."
Bond went on to say that the killing of Brooks was a terrible tragedy for his family and the community and that the anger in the community was understandable. The quick decision to prosecute the officers came at a time when then-district attorney Paul Howard was facing a tough re-election battle.
"We can only accept the investigation that was done by the third party (prosecutors)," Bond said. "This was frankly something that should have happened at the time of the incident. It probably would have resulted in less damage to the reputation to the Atlanta Police Department, probably less chaos in the streets of our city."
Howard lost the Democratic primary to his successor, Fani Willis, a few days after announcing the decision to prosecute. When reached by phone, Howard declined to comment Tuesday.