APD cleans house

Late Tuesday, Atlanta police Chief Richard Pennington announced that the entire narcotics unit will be replaced with new officers. In addition, Pennington said about 140 personnel changes will go into effect May 29.

The changes come after months of department scrutiny, which began after the shooting death of an elderly woman in November.

Initially, 14 new investigators will make up the narcotics unit. They will train for two weeks on how to obtain warrants, gather information from informants and conduct drug searches before hitting the streets. “These officers were handpicked and they’re of the highest integrity,” Pennington said.

Lt. William Trivelpiece will become the new narcotics unit head and the unit will increase to 30 officers by the year’s end.

In addition to narcotics unit changes, Maj. Welcome Harris has been moved from heading up the Office of Professional Standards, which reviews citizen complaints of, among other things, excessive force and maltreatment. CL reported last week that the office has one of the lowest rates in the nation when it comes to sustaining citizen complaints.

When asked about the changes, Pennington said he’s moving many of the commanders around so they can learn more about law enforcement. “It has to do with career development,” Pennington said. “It has to do with making sure that our leaders get experience in other areas of law enforcement.”