Arming officers with Tasers

A metro Atlanta police chief wants to arm his officers with Tasers. DeKalb County police chief Terrell Bolton would give Tasers to more than 1,000 patrol officers. He plans to pay for the Tasers with more than a million dollars from confiscated drug assets. The DeKalb County commission would have to approve the idea.

(Associated Press)

Macon police officer charged with sexual assault

A Macon police officer may lose his job over an alleged sexual assault of a person in custody. 35-year-old William Enders made his appeal to the police chief yesterday. Enders has been charged with sexual assault for a December 26th incident, and is out on 25-thousand dollar bond. The alleged assault was learned when someone who had spoken to the victim contacted the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The GBI contacted Macon’s police department, which opened its own investigation. The decision on Enders’ employment as an officer with Macon might be made by today.

Police Officer in Rockmart: Found Out Felon

A North Georgia Police officer was arrested after officials discovered he was a convicted felon.

After working for a year as a Rockmart police officer, Jedson Leist decided to apply for work as deputy sheriff in Haralson County. Officials there ran a background check, and found out Leist was a convicted felon in Colorado.

Assistant United States Attorney Bret Williams is prosecuting the case. Williams said he’s never seen anything like this.

“It struck me as an unusual case when you have someone who is a convicted felon, first of all, looking to get a job of all things, as a police officer, and then covering up their record using fake fingerprints,” said Williams.

Williams said it was possible for Leist to become an officer because Rockmart Police allowed him to turn in his own background check, which unknown to them, he limited to the state of Georgia.

Officials suspect Leist had help from inside the Rockmart Police department because he used a fake fingerprint for the in-house background check.

Rockmart Police Chief Larry Harris took leave as a result of this investigation.