It was an evidence presentation. My nephew's case is not an isolated incident. It is entry number 48 in a file containing 51 documented incidents of racially discriminatory stops, detentions, and use of force actions by officers of this precinct over a 22-month period. In 49 of those 51 incidents, the subject was black.
In 49 of those 51 incidents, no arrest was made, no citation was issued, and no criminal activity was found. The remaining two incidents resulted in misdemeanor citations that were subsequently dismissed. He removed a second folder from the briefcase. He placed it on the podium.
This folder contains a summary of findings that will be formally transmitted to the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia within the next 14 days. The summary documents the following. First, a pattern of pretextual stops targeting black residents and visitors in the Collier Ridge subdivision and surrounding areas in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. Second, the falsification of incident report supplemental narratives by Deputy Ross Embry, who added language to three reports that contradicts the body camera footage recorded during the corresponding encounters.
This may constitute a federal offense involving the alteration or falsification of records connected to an investigation. Third, the suppression of public records in response to a lawful Open Records Act request, including the withholding of body camera footage under a claimed exemption that does not apply to the materials in question. Granger stood up. His face was the color of paper.
Agent Kaine, I need to understand what you're saying. Are you telling this council that the FBI has been investigating my precinct? I'm telling this council that the Department of Justice has been conducting a preliminary assessment. Whether that assessment becomes a formal pattern or practice investigation depends on findings that are still being compiled.
But I can tell you, Captain, that the preliminary findings are sufficient to warrant referral and specific personnel actions involving my officers will be determined by the appropriate authorities. I am not here to make those determinations tonight. I am here to ensure that this council has an accurate and complete record of what has occurred in the community it serves. Granger sat down.
He did not speak again for the remainder of the session. Ashford leaned into her microphone. Mr. Kaine, Agent Kaine, whatever your title is. Her voice had the brittle quality of authority confronted with a larger authority.
Are you suggesting that community members reporting legitimate safety concerns are somehow participating in civil rights violations? I am stating that 11 emergency and non-emergency calls over 8 months, all originating from addresses in the Collier Ridge subdivision, all describing black males engaged in noncriminal activity and all resulting in stops that produce no evidence of wrongdoing, constitute a pattern that warrants review. I am further stating that knowingly filing false reports, if substantiated, may violate Georgia law. Ashford's mouth opened.