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Copyright © 2011 CrossRoadsNews, Inc.
November 19, 2011
Volume 17, Number 29
www.crossroadsnews.com
Officers caught in act of beating handcuffed suspect By Jennifer Ffrench Parker
When burglary suspect Tavarrius Williams spat on the two DeKalb Police officers who arrested him Oct. 15, he reportedly got a lot more than he deserved. The officers, Blake Norwood and Arthur Parker, drove the handcuffed Williams in their squad car behind a garage at the South Precinct on Tavarrius Williams Candler Road and were beating him when a third officer came up on the scene, according to reports. The colleague initially thought the offi-
cers needed help and was rushing to their assistance when he saw that the suspect was cuffed. He reported the incident to his supervisor. At a Nov. 16 news conference at the department’s Tucker headquarBlake Norwood ters, Police Chief William O’Brien said Norwood and Parker, who have both been with the force for three years, have been charged with battery and violating the oath of office. The suspect reportedly spat on Parker, who drove him to the back of the garage and was joined by Norwood in the beating.
O’Brien called the incident embarrassing for the Police Department. “We acted swiftly,” he said. “We will not condone this type of behavior.” Williams, who was arrested at the Wellington Court apartments in Arthur Parker Decatur and charged with criminal attempted burglary, was treated at Grady Memorial Hospital for a chipped front tooth and bruised ribs. “This is certainly not the kind of behavior that we expect from our officers,” O’Brien said. “It tarnishes law enforcement everywhere.”
At the news conference, DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis praised O’Brien and the department for taking swift and appropriate action and for being transparent about what had occurred. “The Police Department has a responsibility to protect citizens,” he said. “We will not condone inappropriate actions.” Ellis said the actions of the two officers are not reflective of the department and that the officer who reported it did the right thing. O’Brien said that had the officers responded to the spitting with a push or a single strike, that would be something difPlease see BEATING, Page 5
DeKalb seeks delay on creating new cities Commissioners Feasibility of Brookhaven as a city concerned about impact on services By Mary Swint
DeKalb County commissioners are finally worrying about the impact that the creation of new cities will have and are asking state legislators to delay action on new cities and annexations. They also want them to supervise a study of the impact of annexation and incorporation on the county’s capacity to provide services. The commissioners adopted a resolution on Nov. 15 calling on the 19-member DeKalb delegation to the state capital to appoint a study committee to look into the matter. The resolution comes in the wake of a new study by the Carl Vinson Institute that says a new city of Brookhaven is feasible. The proposed study would look at a method for determining reasonable boundaries for existing or new cities; the fiscal capacity of the annexing/newly incorporating areas and the remaining unincorporated area to provide basic public services; and alternatives to annexation and incorporation such as townships and special service districts. It also would analyze the impact of widespread annexation or incorporation on the provision of higher-level services, such as 911 and Emergency Management; traffic signal and roadway maintenance; storm water management; and non-basic police services including aerial support unit, SWAT team, bomb squad unit, intelligence, K-9 division, gang task force and drug task force. Last week, Citizens for North DeKalb released a study they commissioned from the Carl Vinson Institute on the estimated revenues and expenses for a proposed 12-square-mile city of Brookhaven. The population would be 49,188 and 51.5 per-
The proposed city of Brookhaven would cover 12 square miles, bounded by Fulton County to the west, Dunwoody to the north, Chamblee to the east and a portion of I-85 to the south. n It would include DeKalb’s portion of DeKalb-Peachtree Airport. n It could have a population of 49,188 that would be 51.5 percent white. n Its estimated annual revenues would be $28.5 million. n Its estimated annual expenses would be $25 million. n It would receive about $5 million from HOST funds for capital projects. n It would include eight DeKalb County parks. n It could acquire those parks for $24,950 each. Curtis Parker / CrossRoadsNews
cent white, making it the county’s largest. The area studied was bounded by Fulton County to the west, Dunwoody to the north, Chamblee to the east and a portion of I-85 to the south. The proposed city would include eight county parks and DeKalb’s portion of the DeKalb-Peachtree Airport, but the report did not discuss the airport. The airport is supported by fees such as hangar leases that go into a special fund and the operations come under the Federal Aviation Administration. Under state legislation passed before the incorporation of Dunwoody, the new city could purchase county facilities such as police and fire stations and parks based on a formula in the law and the square foot-
age. The Vinson study estimated the cost for Brookhaven to acquire the parks from DeKalb would be $24,950 each. It estimated Brookhaven would have annual revenues of $28.5 million and annual expenses of $25 million. It would receive about $5 million from HOST funds for capital projects. Ironically, the push for incorporation of Brookhaven appears to be helped by the service delivery strategy agreement the county and existing cities approved last December. The Vinson report noted the millage rate in unincorporated DeKalb for services went from 3.5 mills in 2010 to 6.39 mills this year, an 82 percent increase. Part of that increase is due to the service
delivery strategy. It separated out millage rates for police, parks and street services and allowed cities for the first time to opt out of paying for some county services. It resulted in lowered county millage rates for larger cities that did not depend as much on county services. For instance, Stone Mountain property owners were charged 1.59 mills for police, parks, recreation and street-related services in 2010, but they were taxed only 0.55 mills in the 2011 midyear budget. Decatur, Doraville and Chamblee also saw millage for these county services lowered. The millage rate for these services remained Please see STUDY, Page 5