VIDALIA POLICE CHIEF HAD RUN-INS WITH LAW PRIOR TO WIRETAPPING AGENT

A portrait of Jesus hangs on the wall behind the desk of Vidalia Police
Chief Darrell Collins. A Bible rests near his fingertips.

But the corners of the room send a different message. In one stands a rack
of rifles. The other holds a bank of monitors from which Collins scans the
hallways and public waiting room of the Police Department.

His resume and record present similar conflicts.

Hired for a department headed by his uncle, longtime Police Chief Bobby
Davidson, Collins had an erratic law enforcement career with the city,
according to personnel records obtained under the state's Open Records Act.
His record includes threats, acts of violence and questionable judgment.

Lacking a college degree and a diverse, professional background with other
police forces, Collins was hired as chief in 1997 by City Manager Bill
Torrance.

A broad-chested former high school football player, Collins originally was
hired as a radio operator in 1982, with only a high school diploma. He
resigned in 1984 after he was involved in off-duty altercations.

In February 1983, Collins pulled a gun on two black men he claimed provoked
him at a Huddle House restaurant. Collins left before police arrived, but
the men stayed to give statements to officers.

"They said the man (Collins) had shoved one of them and then pulled a gun
on them," the police report said. Collins wasn't disciplined. A note to his
file said one of the men had bumped him, so he pushed him and drew a gun
when he thought he might be attacked.

A year later, in April 1984, four officers had to wrestle Collins into a
jail cell after he was picked up outside Danny's Lounge in Vidalia. Armed
with two guns and a knife, Collins was cursing loudly and acting bizarrely
after claiming he had been beaten up, the bar owner told police.

Police settled Collins down enough to get him into a patrol car, but he
jumped out of the vehicle on the way to the police station. He cursed and
beat a sign post before he was subdued. At the station, Collins' tirade
continued.

"Officer Collins was very disorderly, using profane language. He kicked
over a chair and hit one of the lockers as hard as he could with his fist.
I tried to get him to calm down, but he refused. We had to manhandle him
into the cell," the ranking officer wrote in his report.

A week later, Collins stepped down to "follow other job opportunities."

"I could not stand the pressure of the job. I could not stand to see
children killed and other things," Collins wrote in his resignation letter.
"I found out I was not suited to this type of work."

Collins took a job driving a truck for a gas company, and was involved in
an incident that could have ended his law enforcement career. On Dec. 26,
1984 he was charged with burglary, simple battery and pointing a pistol at
another.

James B. Yancey, Collins' father-in-law, accused him of breaking in the
front and hall door of his home and drawing a pistol on him without
provocation. The sworn warrant, which contained the names of two witnesses,
also said Collins struck Yancey on his forehead with a door and hit
Yancey's wife.

But Yancey later dropped the charges and the District Attorney's Office
transferred the warrants to State Court, where they were dismissed. That
cleared the way for Collins to re-apply for a job as a Vidalia police officer.

His new resume gave incorrect dates of service, saying he left the
department two months before the incident at Danny's Lounge.

The police department hired Collins back anyway.

Court records show allegations of violence followed Collins even when he
was back in uniform. Robin Clarence Odom of Vidalia, represented by State
Court Solicitor David Pittman, swore out a simple battery warrant against
Collins in 1986. He said Collins struck him in the back and arm at the
Vidalia Police Department on the morning of May 16. But State Court Judge
Don Carpenter dismissed the warrant, saying there was no probable cause
that Collins did the beating.

Collins moved steadily up the ranks: In July 1992, he was promoted to
detective; two months later he was named a lieutenant. But in January 1994,
he quit to take a job at Fab Tech, a sheet metal fabrication company. There
is nothing in his personnel file indicating why he made the move.

Several months later, Collins tried to return to the Vidalia Police
Department, but was told he would only be able to apply as an entry-level
police officer and could not work under the supervision of his uncle. He
did not apply.

In March 1995, Collins returned to law enforcement when he was named chief
in nearby Soperton. That paved the way for his return to the chief's job in
Vidalia in 1997, a decision supported by his uncle and debated behind
closed doors by the city council. Personnel discussions are not subject to
the Open Meetings law.

Records show Collins received merit raises and was promoted during the
period of the wiretapping and Henry Dickerson's death.

"All work performed in a very thorough manner," City Manager Bill Torrance
wrote. "Chief Collins is learning to aggressively pursue implementation of
programs and policies outlined by council and the mayor."

Collins declined to talk about the cases, saying they were history and
Vidalia residents like the work he is doing today.

"I don't have to explain it to anyone," he said.

Collins said the rifles in his office are personal weapons he keeps
unloaded. The monitors are there to provide security in the department 24
hours a day. He doesn't have a surveillance sign in the public waiting room
because only video images are collected.

POST investigates, but lets Collins keep his badge

The Georgia Police Officer Standards and Training Council conducted an
investigation of Collins following reports of his wiretapping of GBI Agent
Vickey Tapley and the ensuing federal court battle.

Even though the City of Vidalia paid Tapley an $75,000 settlement, the
court didn't hold Collins personally liable for his actions. Because no law
enforcement agency ever pursued the case criminally, the POST council also
took no action against Collins.

The POST case file, obtained under Open Records law, shows the case was
assigned to three investigators from May 1999 to December 2000.
Investigators relied on statements from Tapley, Collins, and depositions
taken from Collins and City Manager Bill Torrance.

However, investigators made no independent effort to verify information in
the court documents or corroborate statements, records show.

For example, the case file includes a deposition by Torrance saying that
Collins was trying to warn him that Tapley was setting up a sex-for-drugs
sting operation against him. But POST never attempted to talk to the woman,
Kim Young, who has denied she was ever asked to offer sexual favors.

The agency does not have the resources to conduct more thorough
investigations. Only seven investigators are responsible for handling some
1,100 to 1,400 cases of alleged misconduct by officers.

POST did not examine Collins' personnel records or conduct a courthouse
search of warrants taken out against Collins before he became chief.

Investigators also did not question why prosecutors declined to pursue
criminal charges. They relied on a statement by former Toombs County
District Attorney Rick Malone, who said the GBI and FBI had "looked into
the case" and saw no reason to act.

In fact, the GBI never investigated the wiretapping -- referring the case
to the Attorney General's office, which did nothing because it was already
representing Tapley's boss, who was a party to the wiretapping. The FBI has
never confirmed an investigation, although the U.S. Attorney's Office
decided it would be better not to get involved.

The POST case file made no mention of Torrance and Collins' ties to the
Dickerson death.

The Collins deposition

Vickey Tapley's attorney Bob Killian of Brunswick took sworn depositions
from Collins and Torrance as part of a civil lawsuit in federal court. Here
are excerpts from those depositions:

Killian: As a police officer, do you attend courses on proper gathering of
evidence through eavesdropping devices?

Collins: I haven't had a course on that.

Killian: You never had a course on that?

Collins: No...

Killian: How many of Vickey Tapley's telephone calls have you listened in on?

Collins: Just three.

Killian: Did you begin making notes during the first conversations that you
overheard?

Collins: Yes.

Killian: And did you make notes during all three conversations?

Collins: Yes.

Killian: During your time as a police officer, have you ever been treated
for cocaine use?

Collins: Did not answer; stopped by his attorney, Mary Katz.

Katz: "I think that -- I mean I have no information and I don't want to
leave any implication that he has, but if you are, I think if nothing else
you're talking about a psychiatric situation which would be privileged and
I'm going to instruct him not to answer that on the ground in addition to
the fact that it's not relevant, it's not admissible and it's got nothing
at all to do with this lawsuit.

Killian: While you have been a police officer, you have illegally hunted
out of a police car, have you not?

Katz: Same objection.

Killian: Now, as a police officer from time to time you're involved in
investigations and sting operations, aren't you?

Collins: Yes, sir.

Killian: And you've received training in both of those topics, haven't you?

Collins: Yes, sir.

Killian: You've also received training in obstruction of justice, haven't you?

Collins: Yes, sir.

Killian: Tell me what a police officer should properly do if he hears that
one of his friends may be subject to a sting operation. Should he tell him
or not?

Collins: Well, he shouldn't tell him, but he should, if it involves another
official, I think he should check into it.

Killian: Did you check to see if any other police agency had information
that linked Bill Torrance with cocaine use before you told him that he was
the topic of a GBI sting?

Collins: No, I didn't.

Killian: What specifically did you tell Bill Torrance about the alleged
sting operation against him? Tell me everything you said to him.

Collins: I just told him that Bobby (Narcotics Officer Bobby Young) had
information that Vickey was trying to solicit someone that would try to do
sex for drugs and try to target him.

(Editor's note: The woman, Young's wife, denied Tapley wanted her to make
sexual advances.)

The Torrance deposition

Killian: Do you believe that it is appropriate for the police chief to tell
the target of a sting operation about a possible pending sting operation
against that person?

Torrance: I felt like his comments to me were appropriate.

Killian: No. I'm not asking about his comments to you. Do you believe that
it is appropriate, in your position as city manager, do you believe that it
is appropriate for the police chief to tell the target of a sting operation
about the possible sting operation against that person?

Torrance: I don't know how to answer that any other way than I did. I think
his actions were appropriate. I'm not a law enforcement person.