The Kathryn Johnston Shooting

CITY SAYS LITTLE ON DIRTY COPS

Mayor, on Asia Trip, Promises Unspecified Action on Killing and
Cover-Up; Chief Stays Out of Public Eye

On Thursday, federal authorities made explosive allegations of
widespread misconduct in the Atlanta Police Department.

On Friday, the city administration remained vague in its response.
Chief Richard Pennington had earlier said he was taking part of Friday
off to work on his house and could not be reached for comment. Mayor
Shirley Franklin was in South Korea and Japan on a trip to bring
business to the city. At first, an aide said the mayor had not yet
been briefed. Later, in response to e-mailed questions, Franklin said
the chief briefed her a month ago on "the seriousness of the charges."
Pennington "has already started to implement recommendations and
changes as a result of the investigation and we will continue to take
action on any new findings," the mayor wrote.

For the most part, City Council members were supportive of the chief's
response to the crisis that has grown out of the Nov. 21 death of
Kathryn Johnston, a 92-year-old woman killed in a drug raid gone bad.
Two officers, Gregg Junnier and Jason R. Smith, pleaded guilty to
lying to get a search warrant for the home. And federal investigators
said they were not alone. "Junnier and other officers falsified
affidavits for search warrants to be considered productive officers
and to meet APD's performance targets," according to a federal exhibit
released Thursday. "They believed that these ends justified their
illegal 'Fluffing' or falsifying of search warrants." Longtime council
member C.T. Martin avoided saying much because the city was set to be
sued by the family.

"I'm sure the public wants a response," Martin said. "At some point
we're going to have to respond. The whole police department does not
need fixing. Some of the problem areas need to be fixed."

But Councilman Lamar Willis, who this year pushed through legislation
for a civilian review board, said he was distressed by the chief's
lack of a strong message or admission that there is a widespread
problem. "I have not heard Pennington accept responsibility," Willis
said. "It's not 'those guys' have a problem. It's 'we.' I have not
heard him say that yet. "I want the chief to step up and be the leader
the mayor says he is. After five or six years on the job, you can't
say, 'It's not my fault.' " Pennington, in a news conference Thursday
after the pleas, said: "The Atlanta Police Department does not have a
quota system. Yes, we get on officers for performance. Any corporate
system does that." Willis said he was outraged hearing that.

"To compare himself to a CEO is an insult. He should compare himself
to a general," the councilman said. "CEOs drive numbers. That's what
he's doing. It was clearly a slip of the tongue."

Willis said the most telling comment came Thursday from U.S. Attorney
David Nahmias, who said "ongoing public scrutiny" was needed for the
police department to reform.

"We owe him thanks for saying that," Willis said, "He said it -- not
the chief, not the administration."

The details of the Johnston incident that came out in the guilty pleas
of Junnier and Smith were appalling: The officers planted drugs on a
suspected street dealer and pressured him to give up a dope dealer.
The officers then lied to a judge, illegally broke into Johnston's
house, fired 39 shots at her and handcuffed her as she lay bleeding
before they planted drugs in her basement.

"This is scary that something like this could happen, that it could
happen to a United States citizen in her home," Junnier's attorney,
Rand Csehy, said Friday. "Everything went wrong here."

Junnier loved the hustle and danger of roaming the streets at night in
search of criminals.

"He loved the chase" and he was able to make his own rules, Gino
Brogdon, Junnier's other attorney, said at a news conference Friday.
But he learned shortcuts in that universe and that led to Johnston's
death. The officers were led into the raid by a tip from an unreliable
source, and they were armed with a warrant based on lies. And lies and
misconduct did not end there, said federal investigators who are
sorting through the culture of the department.

"He was a runny nose to the cold," Brogdon said. "He is a symptom."
The two attorneys were asked where the investigation goes and who
bears the responsibility.

"Ultimately, the buck stops with the senior guy," said Brogdon, a
former Fulton County judge, referring to Pennington.

Csehy said Pennington may not have created the problem but is
responsible for any continuing patterns.

"Chief Pennington inherited a police department," he said. "But you
keep putting the Band-Aid on it, putting the Band-Aid on it, putting
the Band-Aid on it, and [it] doesn't heal.

"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem."
Councilman Ivory Young said he stands behind the chief, who instituted
a computer-centered accountability program that quickly tracks crime
trends and targets areas for enforcement and has led to drops in
crime. Young represents the neighborhood where Johnston lived.

"There is not enough space in the newspapers to talk about the
individual successes that we've had, not only in [police] Zone One ...
in northwest Atlanta, but all across the city as a result of the
leadership of Richard Pennington," Young said.

Johnston's home has been boarded up since she was killed. Nearby,
neighbor Daran Scott, 19, like several others interviewed, said the
officers should have gotten more prison time.

Junnier agreed to a sentence of 10 years in federal prison, Smith to
12 years, 7 months on charges reduced from murder to voluntary
manslaughter and federal civil rights violations. Both will cooperate
with the ongoing probe. "They should get life; that's how I feel,"
said Scott. "If we kill somebody, we get life or the death penalty."

The word on the street, according to Terance Jones, is that "it's
about time" for justice.

Jones, 41, a former Johnston neighbor, was the only one to express
concern for the officers.

"I hope they don't have to serve too much time," he said. "They are
police officers and they are going to have it hard in jail."