ROSWELL, Ga. — The Roswell City Council Chamber was nearly full for a remarkably short open mic night.
Officers were ready in case the crowd was larger than normal, as it's the first open mic night since 11Alive investigator Brendan Keefe broke several controversial stories about the conduct of several of the department's officers.
For about 45 minutes, Roswell city council members listened to two residents get on the mic to raise their concerns about the recently-revealed issues with the city's police departments.
Roswell Police investigations:
One was very critical of leadership in the department, even calling for the resignation of police chief Rusty Grant. The other was complimentary of how the department is handling the decision.
"I think what we have is, the problem with the department is the culture is overly machismo-istic, and I think it's forcing a sense of bravado," explained Patrick Cahill, a three-year resident of Roswell. "I think there is a virus and an illness going on as well in the police department that's leading to these atypical outcomes."
Meanwhile, John Reddick, who's lived in Roswell for one year, pushed back saying, "I feel like all we could do is get the fact out, find what the problem is and correct it. And I think it's just important that we always put ourselves in the place of first responders, of the decisions they have to make in milliseconds."
The council did not respond to any of the comments made about the police department.
On the department's website, it says the city administrator and chief of police are working to identify and address bigger issues within the department. The Roswell police chief also announced he would be conducting a "top down" assessment of the department following the attention the 11Alive investigations received.
