The Atlanta PD sickout continued for the third day. They’re “just fed up,” the Union president said.
For two days the city insisted everything was fine, but it’s not. Mobs of people, some are Black Lives Matter, are holding cookouts outside the burnt-out Wendy’s where Rayshard Brooks was murdered. Some are claiming police are calling in sick so they can kill black people and not get in trouble.
The sickout or so-called “Blue Flu” began right after Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said he was charging two officers in the death of Rayshard Brooks.
The city denied officers walked out in a tweet Wednesday, the first day of the walkout.
“Earlier suggestions that multiple officers from each zone had walked off the job were inaccurate,” the tweet said. “The department is experiencing a higher than usual number of call outs with the incoming shift. We have enough resources to maintain operations & remain able to respond to incidents.”
As officers continued to not come into work on Thursday, the city continued to insist all was fine.
“The Atlanta Police Department is able to respond effectively to 911 calls. Please don’t hesitate to call if you have an emergency,” Atlanta PD tweeted.
Earlier suggestions that multiple officers from each zone had walked off the job were inaccurate. The department is experiencing a higher than usual number of call outs with the incoming shift. We have enough resources to maintain operations & remain able to respond to incidents.
— Atlanta Police Department (@Atlanta_Police) June 18, 2020
THERE WAS NEVER ANY DOUBT
Meanwhile, people listened to police scanners and zone 6 was in radio silence and zone 5 was close to that.
Zone 6 is the zone covered by Officers Brosnan and Rolfe.
Atlanta police officers and International Brotherhood of Police Southeast Regional Director Vince Champion told The Police Tribune that rumors of the walkout were all true.
Atlanta Police officers told KHOU on Friday that in Zone 5 25 police officers called in sick. That’s everyone except for the three supervisors. We were told that homicide detectives were even responding to 911 calls.
Tens of thousands of people tuned into the police department’s scanner frequency to listen to hours of silence.
Champion told The Police Tribune Thursday that more than 500 of Atlanta’s 911 calls went unanswered overnight.
The call sheet was leaked and the Police Tribune confirmed it was legitimate, Blue Lives Matter reported.
Most of the officers on the sheet are marked “S/O” for Sick Out, indicating that they called in “sick.”
Only one lieutenant and one sergeant remain on the list.
THE CALL SHEET
While the city claims everything is just peachy-keen, the call sheet for day three was leaked, and it highlights the staffing shortage.
THEY WERE BETRAYED
11 Alive spoke to Vince Champion, the regional director of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers (IBPO).
“I’ve never seen the morale so bad that it pushes the majority of an agency to do this,” said Champion.
“They want to do their job, they just don’t want to do it in the City of Atlanta where they’re not respected and where they’ll be betrayed,” he said.
Champion said Atlanta police officers have had enough.
“They’re just fed up,” Champion told CNN. “I mean, their mayor has come out and said everything that they used to do with use of force is not valid — ‘Don’t do it’ — so I don’t know how we defend ourselves when people want to fight us,” he said.
On Wednesday night, he told The Police Tribune what he knew about the ongoing situation.
“We don’t know the exact number – I’ve heard different stories. But we’ve heard that in at least three zones, the officers have actually walked out – we don’t know the number. We‘ve heard that in one precinct, the officers are in the precinct building but will not come out unless an officer calls for assistance,” Champion told The Police Tribune.
But he made it very clear that the police union had nothing to do with the walkout, and said it hadn’t been planned.
“The DA’s office is going after us and we are not going to stand for it anymore, so officers just left – and I think that speaks more to it than if it were an organized thing,” Champion said. “This wasn’t organized. This didn’t start happening until after the press conference when these officers saw what was happening to one of their own.”
THE BLUE FLU BEGAN ON WEDNESDAY
The Blue Flu began on Wednesday when Officers Brosnan and Rolfe were charged after they followed procedures in the shooting death of Rayshard Brooks.
The DA claimed there was no cause for the shooting and Mr. Brooks was just polite. That was a lie. He claimed officer Brosnan pled guilty and turned state’s evidence (he’s charged with three felonies). That’s a lie.
He claims former officer Rolfe kicked Mr. Brooks but won’t release the alleged footage and the officer denies it.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation hadn’t even completed their investigation when DA Paul Howard charged the officers.
They won’t even allow former officer Rolfe bail.
OTHER REPORTS
The city has lied through their teeth since this began. Check the dates. The city officials are liars.
While I feel sorry for people who need police but can’t get them, I’m proud of LEO for taking a stand and NOT responding to calls
If Leftists want anarchy, have it
If citizens want order, vote Republican!#Atlantapolice
— Kevin Jackson (@KevinJacksonTBS) June 18, 2020
As of right now, all zones 1-6 in Atlanta PD are not answering calls. Sheriffs office said no to mayor. Georgia State Police is only handling crashes. Correction officers from jail being forced to answer 911 calls. Mayor is freaking out.
— Rich Semmelmeier (@RichSemmelmeier) June 18, 2020
Reports now: #Atlanta Police Zones 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 … police walk out and resignations, dispatch radios dead. Watch 3, 5, and 6 for dangers. Praying for good citizens who need police – or fire trucks and EMS. pic.twitter.com/Q8OXgl6wvk
— Miao (@MiaoReport) June 17, 2020
Atlanta: Police Department says walkouts are untrue. Mayor @KeishaBottoms talking about the walkout on CNN right now.
Reports suggest APD reached out to Gwinnett Cobb, and Clayton for help tonight and they all said no. @CBS46 https://t.co/J44Ym54TLq— shon gables cbs46 (@shongables) June 18, 2020
Breaking: Sources confirm Atlanta Police officers in zone 6 have walked out. Sources say they drove back to their precinct, turned in their keys and went home. Officers in zone 3 are allegedly doing the same. @CBS46 #ContinuingCoverage #Atlanta #BlueFlu pic.twitter.com/kgLuNwDalP
— shon gables cbs46 (@shongables) June 18, 2020
” just one officer showed up for work Thursday morning in Zone 6″
Hope you don’t need a cop today, D.A. Paul Howard.https://t.co/L6jwMgMJao
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) June 18, 2020
ATLANTA PD update: In a since deleted post, an Iowa private security group puts a call out for replacement police to go to Atlanta to fill in for the police officers walking off their shifts and throwing a stink.
Prior military and body armor part of the advertisement. pic.twitter.com/KAtFQugdd8
— Jordan (@JordanChariton) June 18, 2020
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