BlueFlu? 'Higher than usual number' of Atlanta police officers call out of work

Alexis Stevens
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wed, 17 Jun 2020 15:16 UTC

© Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Rayshard Brooks (L) Officer Garrett Rolfe (R)

A "higher than usual" number of Atlanta police officers failed to show up for work Wednesday night, hours after the Fulton County District Attorney announced criminal charges for two accused in the death of Rayshard Brooks.

"The department is experiencing a higher than usual number of call outs with the incoming shift," Atlanta police posted on social media. "We have enough resources to maintain operations and remain able to respond to incidents."

On Wednesday, DA Paul Howard announced charges for the two officers. One of the two, Garrett Rolfe, was fired from the department and Devin Brosnan has been placed on administrative duty.

Neither Atlanta police nor a local union representative confirmed the number of officers involved.

Vince Champion, Southeast regional director for the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, told the AJC he could not confirm which police zones were affected.

"There are officers walking off," Champion said Wednesday evening. "There are officers saying they are not going to leave the precinct unless to help another officer. Some are walking off and sitting in their personal vehicles."

Champion said he has been told APD was attempting to get back-up support from adjacent law enforcement agencies. But he said some agencies declined to help.

"Why would you put your officer in Fulton County and take the chance of this happening?" Champion said. "You have an officer who just heard what Paul Howard said, saying he's going to be in prison for the rest of his life or put to death, and now he's got to surrender."

Atlanta police declined to say whether the agency requested assistance from other agencies.

In an interview Wednesday night on CNN, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said morale among officers is down with the city's police department.

"Across the country, morale is down with police departments, and I think ours is down tenfold," she said.

Alexis Stevens covers breaking news for the Enterprise team. She started at the AJC in 2000 as a sports page designer. Alexis is graduate of Berry College, where she earned undergraduate degrees in Communication and Spanish.

Comment: Local news outlet Decaturish.com further reports:

Vince Champion, southeast regional director of the International Brotherhood of Police officers, said that police officers had stopped answering calls midshift, in response to charges against Officer Garrett Rolfe who is accused of murdering Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta.

"The union, we would never advocate this. We wouldn't advocate a blue flu," Champion said. "We don't know the numbers. Apparently we're learning that command staff are asking outlying counties for support and aren't getting it."

A spokesperson for APD called reports of a walkout "inaccurate."

"Earlier suggestions that multiple officers from each zone had walked off the job were inaccurate," the spokesperson said. "However, the department is experiencing a higher than usual number of call-outs with the incoming shift. We have enough resources to maintain operations and remain able to respond to incidents throughout the city."

Zones 3 and 6 cover south Atlanta, where Rolfe killed Rayshard Brooks after a June 12 DUI arrest turned into an altercation. Rolfe fired three bullets at Brooks as he fled with a taser in hand. Video of the shooting suggests Brooks pointed the taser at officers as he fled.

Other local media are seeing evidence of the walkout.

Atlanta INtown reports,

"A drive around Zone 6 indicated there was not the usual APD presence. A Georgia State Patrol unit was handling a two-car accident at Boulevard and Edgewood Avenue around 9 p.m. The APD's precinct at Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center appeared empty. Down in Grant Park, the Zone 3 precinct was populated by Fulton County Sheriff units."

From Twitter:

The Atlanta Police Department is reassuring the public this morning: