Crime & Safety

Attorneys discuss Atlanta Eagle police reforms

Panel explains the police reforms mandated in the Atlanta Eagle settlement approved in early December

Litigation may be settled, but the dispute is far from over. 

"We're still fighting a battle," Atlanta Eagle plaintiff David Thomas said Monday night at a meeting in Candler Park. Attorneys who tried the case held a hearing to discuss the settlement that was reached Dec. 8 over the 2009 police raid at the Midtown bar. 

The legal order requires the city of Atlanta to pay plantiffs more than $1 million. It also requires major changes to the operating procedures of the Atlanta Police Department. 

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"They have to change policies that break the law," said Dan Grossman, attorney for the plantiffs and one of five panelists at the Dec. 20 meeting.

The settlement outlines specific unconstitutional policies that Atlanta police must eliminate. During the raid last September, dozens of Atlanta police officers unlawfully searched, detained and/or arrested patrons at the bar on Ponce de Leon Avenue, a hotspot for the gay community. 

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"They were one minute customers in a bar and the next minute in a nightmare," said attorney Beth Littrell with Lambda Legal. "It was a massive show of force ... officers detained everyone inside."

But police found nothing incriminating on any of the almost 60 Atlanta Eagle patrons, Littrell said. 

"It was so wrong," said Thomas Hayes, a plantiff in the case. "Something had to be done."

The settlement agreement sets eight major changes to the Atlanta Police Department. Among them, police officers must wear name tags and identify themselves when asked. In addition, officers can not stop people from photographing or recording their actions with cameras, cell phones or other devices. Training on proper search techniques will be required every two years as well. 

The legal order also says the Atlanta Police Department must investigate the conduct of each officer that was involved in the raid. That investigation must be complete within 180 days from the Dec. 8 settlement, or around the beginning of March. 

"I hope something is really going to happen," said Robbie Kelley, co-owner of the Atlanta Eagle who was arrested the night of the raid but later found not guilty. Kelley said he wants the city to fulfill its promise to reform. He said he is ready for "everything to be done."

"The stress of it has taken its toll on me," Kelley said. He said there have been four or five burglary attempts at the Atlanta Eagle since the settlement was announced about two weeks ago.

The Atlanta Police Advisory Board will discuss the Atlanta Eagle police reforms at a Jan. 10 meeting. It will be held at 7 pm on the second floor of Atlanta City Hall. 


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