Three Cherokee County sheriff’s deputies were arrested and fired after an internal investigation found they used a law enforcement surveillance tool for purposes that had nothing to do with police work.
What’s Happening: The Cherokee Sheriff’s Office spent the past several weeks auditing its license plate reader system, a tool that scans and logs vehicle plates. Investigators found unusual activity tied to three employees and determined all three had used the system in ways that broke agency policy and state law.
What’s New: Two of those arrests happened Monday. 45-year-old Lieutenant Chris Bryant of Acworth and 35-year-old Sergeant Mike Creeden of Cartersville were arrested and booked into the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center. Both face a felony charge of Violation of Oath of Office and a misdemeanor charge of improperly retaining license plate reader data. Both have been fired. A third deputy, Cynthia Jodesty, was arrested June 12 on the same charges in an arrest previously announced by the agency.
By the Numbers: Bryant and Creeden are each being held on a $3,812 bond.
What This Means for You: Georgia law restricts how license plate reader data can be used and stored by law enforcement. Using that data outside of legitimate police purposes is a crime under state law.
The Quote: “Our community expects and demands the highest level of professionalism, integrity, and accountability from the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office. Maintaining the public’s trust requires that our employees uphold the law, safeguard sensitive information, and use the tools entrusted to us only for legitimate law enforcement purposes. I remain committed to ensuring that our agency continues to operate with transparency, professionalism and the highest ethical standards,” Sheriff Frank Reynolds said.
At this point, the only difference between the guards and the inmates is who gets to clock out at the end of the day.
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B.T. Clark is an award-winning journalist and the Publisher of The Georgia Sun. He has 25 years of experience in journalism and served as Managing Editor of Neighbor Newspapers in metro Atlanta for 15 years and Digital Director at Times-Journal Inc. for 8 years. His work has appeared in several newspapers throughout the state including Neighbor Newspapers, The Cherokee Tribune and The Marietta Daily Journal. He is a Georgia native and a fifth-generation Georgian.
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