Atlanta cop pleads guilty to conspiracy

A former Atlanta police officer pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges for his role in a botched drug raid that ended in the shooting death of a 92-year-old woman.

The former officer, Arthur Tesler, faces more than 10 years in prison on a charge of conspiracy to violate civil rights resulting in death. The police originally said officers had gone to the home of the woman, Kathryn Johnston, in northwest Atlanta, in 2006 after an informant said he had bought drugs there. But after finding none, officers tried to cover up the mistake by planting bags of marijuana, prosecutors said.

In May, Mr. Tesler, 42, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for lying to investigators, but federal prosecutors decided to pursue more charges after reviewing the case.

(AP)

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Students to text police

A metro Atlanta school board has cleared the way for students to send text messages to police officers. The Marietta School Board will allow students at Marietta High School to send text messages to a school resource officer about trouble on campus. The school board says the plan will enhance the school's safety program because students sometimes hear about incidents or rumored trouble faster than school staff. Marietta High currently has two police officers and a K-9 unit assigned to it.

(Associated Press)

GBI criminal tip sheets go 'Minority Report'

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is joining seven other state law-enforcement agencies using an automated intelligence-gathering and evaluation system.

“We required a system that could help us improve our decision-making capabilities and operational effectiveness,” said Don Robertson, GBI Project Administrator. “We also manage vast amounts of data across multiple systems, so breaking down barriers to real-time data sharing is of paramount importance.”

The system analyzes numerous sources of collected data, according to the manufacturers, Memex, Inc., of Vienna, Va.

The system “enables law enforcement to efficiently predict, prevent and respond to threats in real-time,” company officials say, by allowing officials to sift through massive amounts of intelligence data, including emails tips, leads and other clues, in order to predict patterns of possible future criminal behavior.

Police departments in Albany, Cobb County, Columbus, Gwinnett County, the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office, and the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office are also using the system, the company said in a release.

The system's touted prediction abilities echo the 2002 science fiction film, Minority Report, in which a “precrime” unit apprehended criminals just prior to the commission of their deeds.

In the movie, however, psychics were relied upon for their ability to visualize a violent crime before it occurred.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the GBI.

Gunfire hits police helicopter

Gunfire hit a police helicopter searching for marijuana, according to authorities with the Spalding County Sheriffs Office. Sheriff Dee Stewart said, "The only thing I can tell you right now is that they were out looking for illegal plants and someone shot them down." No one was injured and the helicopter landed safely. The chopper was hit above property across the line in Pike County.

Police chief recovers from dragging

A west Georgia police chief is out of the hospital recovering from being dragged by a car. West Point Police Chief David Kerr was dragged about 90 feet last night while caught in a car window. Police say it happened during a traffic stop and the driver faces multiple charges.

Police kill suspects in separate incidents

Sheriff's deputies in Rockdale and Clayton counties have fatally shot two suspects in separate incidents. In Rockdale, a deputy killed a motorist at about 4 this morning after the driver dragged him 800 feet. Police say the deputy managed to grab his gun and shot the suspect.

Seven hours later, a Clayton County deputy responding to a disturbance call shot and killed a suspect at a gas station on Tara Boulevard. Authorities say the suspect ran into an abandoned business, where he threatened the deputy with a knife before he was fatally shot.

Drug crackdown nets 25 suspected dealers

Drug crackdown nets 25 suspected dealers from Dave Bender and Vimeo.

Law-enforcement authorities say they've yanked 25 suspected drug dealers off the streets, with another 40 arrest warrants still outstanding.

Five undercover law-enforcement teams were led by Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents, who made the buys in recent days. Team members, using over $20,000 in funds seized in previous arrests bought crack and powered cocaine, Ecstasy and marijuana from dealers in the sting, announced Wednesday.

Sgt. Rick Stinson, Special-Agent-in-Charge of the sheriff department's Metro Narcotics Task Force told GPB News the roundup's aim is to get dealers off the streets:

"One of it's goals is to look for the mid and upper level drug dealers. But it's also important that we also target the dealers on the street. Oftentimes, they're the ones responsible for a lot of the street violence that we've been having."

Suspects ranged from 14 to 44-years of age. Many had prior drug arrests, and most are from the vicinity.

Similar operation in the area netted over 100 suspects in the last few months. Click here for previous GPB News coverage of the operation.

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Senate committee approves limits on "no-knock" warrants

Police say "no-knock" search warrants are a critical crime-fighting tool at times when regular search warrants do not work.
“We have served search warrants before where, as soon as they see you coming, they’re running to the bathroom to either hide evidence or destroy evidence,” says Fayetteville Police Chief Steven Heaton. “And in the case of a gang house, where you’ve got weapons at home, or potentially have weapons at home, they’re hiding weapons and they’re hiding other evidence.”
Heaton says "no-knock" warrants give police a fighting chance in those instances.
But Atlanta Senator Vincent Fort says police are using them "wily nily." He belives if a judge had not given Atlanta police a no-knock warrant, 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston might be alive today.
Johnston died in a gun battle with police in November. The police had obtained a no-knock warrant, although evidence indicates that they had no real proof of crime occuring in Johnston's home.
Fort has offered a bill stating that officers could only obtain no-knock warrants if they could show a judge probable cause that lives would be in danger, and evidence would be destroyed otherwise. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the measure by an unanimous vote. Police say the measure limits their ability to obtain no-knock warrants, but not to the point where it would hinder their work.