Two Atlanta police officers who were fired after showing with bodycam footage that they pulled two black students out of a car and used anesthetic guns during last summer’s protests have gotten their jobs back.
Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms confirmed in a statement on Tuesday that the city’s Civil Service Board had reversed the layoffs.
But “given the unrest in our city and country at the time, and the disturbing video footage ahead, I still believe the right decision was made.”
The board found that the dismissals of the two officers, Ivory Streeter and Mark Gardner, violated city and police ordinances and policies regarding due process, said officers’ attorney, Lance J. LoRusso.
The city did not investigate through the Office of Professional Standards before the June 1 layoffs, which is required, LoRusso told NBC News.
Bodycam video taken during protests after George Floyd’s murder last May showed officers forcibly pulling two students, Messiah Young and Taniyah Pilgrim, from their car. Pilgrim was heard asking what’s going on and crying that she was trying to get out of the car before apparently being hit by the electric current from a tranquilizer gun.
Pilgrim, a student at Spelman College, was not charged. Young, a student at Morehouse College, faced unspecified charges that were later dropped.
Streeter and Gardner were among six officers charged and four fired in connection with the incident, which Bottoms called “ disturbing on many levels. ”
Bottoms announced the layoffs of Streeter and Gardner almost immediately after what she termed “an excessive use of force.”
The two officers later sued for reinstatement and arrears, saying they were denied a fair trial and that “ their use of force was correct and in accordance with the law, Atlanta Police Department policies, prevailing standards for law enforcement and the training provided to them through the Atlanta and Georgia State Police Department. “
They also said they were fired without an investigation, proper notice, or a pre-disciplinary hearing, and that the firings were in violation of city code.
During hearings regarding the officers’ dismissals, “evidence came to light that both officers could reasonably believe, and in fact believe, that there was a weapon in the vehicle,” LoRusso said.
A gun has never been found.
Streeter and Gardner served as detectives in the Atlanta Police Department’s fugitive unit, assisting with civil disturbances in the city, police said.
Streeter had been with the department for 16 years and Gardner for 22 years, police said.
The two agents are still being charged with aggravated assault.
Bottoms said Tuesday that the Civil Service “did not say the officers’ conduct was lawful.”
“This and other incidents have led to changes in our use of force policies, including de-escalation training and guidance on when and how to intervene in specific situations,” said Bottoms. “I sincerely hope that these policy changes and additional training for our officers will help eliminate the potentially life-threatening and deadly encounters of the past.”
The charge was sent to the Georgia Attorney General by the prosecutor over a conflict, according to a Jan. 25 letter from the prosecutor’s office. The Attorney General appoints a deputy public prosecutor.
Neither officer can report fully until the criminal cases against them are resolved, LoRusso said. Once they return to work, they are entitled to back wages and all accrued leave, he said.
