By Kristi E. Swartz
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Clayton County police Chief Jeffrey Turner said Wednesday he thinks the County Commission’s decision to give full operational control of the Police Department --- including the power to hire and fire the police chief --- over to Commission Chairman Eldrin Bell is a personal move against him.
It also undermines his authority as chief of police, he said.
“If they were doing the other departments the same way, there wouldn’t be room for speculation,” Turner told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Wednesday morning. “But the way it’s written and the way the document gives sole control to the chairman does make me believe that it is personal.”
The vote took place Dec. 8. Bell and one other commissioner, Michael Edmondson, opposed the move. A call to Vice Chairman Wole Ralph was not immediately returned Wednesday.
The decision gives a twist to the ongoing tension between the Clayton County Police Department and the County Commission. Bell now has “full power and authority” to “control, supervise, oversee and make rules and regulations governing the management and operation” of the Police Department.
It also says the police chief now reports to the commission chairman, who “shall have full power and authority of the Board of Commissioners to make all decisions concerning the Clayton County Police Department, its operation and management, including but not limited to the selection, hiring, retention, termination or firing of the chief of police.”
Turner said he’s still trying to hash out what exactly the decision means and wants to talk with Bell about it.
Turner, who has been chief of police since March 2007, served as assistant chief to Darrell B. Partain, whom he succeeded. He has been with the Clayton County Police Department since 1987, working his way up the ranks from patrolman to chief.
Bell, an Atlanta native, served 33 years with the Atlanta Police Department. He served as chief from 1990 to 1994.
Bell has not commented on whether the resolution is an attempt to fire Turner, saying it would violate state law to discuss that publicly at this time.
Bell is expected to release an official statement on the commission’s decision sometime today, said representatives from his office.
“It isn’t really me reporting to him; everybody has a boss,” Turner said. “The problem lies in giving him managerial and operational control of the Police Department.”
Turner said he doesn’t know of any other county or police department in Georgia that is modeled this way.
“I have to have the confidence of my personnel, and them knowing that I make decisions for the Police Department,” Turner said. “This resolution undermines the authority that I was invested with.”
Bell voted against the resolution, saying he questioned the “good management principles” and the legality of it.
Bell himself has been warring with his fellow commissioners. He filed a lawsuit against them and the county’s chief of staff in January, saying they are trying to usurp his power and are violating state law.
There has been tension between Turner and the commission since the members appointed a special committee to investigate allegations of sexual harassment at the Police Department.
The decision came after the commission learned that a police officer had admitted to kissing, fondling and making inappropriate comments to a recruit during a job interview --- and that Turner had demoted the officer but not fired him.
Turner again came under fire in September after a deadly police chase that started on Old Dixie Highway in Clayton County.
Staff writers Megan Matteucci and Mashaun D. Simon contributed to this article.
Copyright 2009 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution