There's an interesting op-ed piece in Creative Loafing today written by an Atlanta Police Department detective who calls on supervisors to provide mentoring to young officers in light of a string of controversies facing the APD.
Det. Ken Allen, president of the Atlanta Police Union (International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local 623), writes in CL that recent accusations against APD officers violating the constitutional rights of citizens are "isolated incidents that are few and far between in comparison to the normal law enforcement behaviors of Atlanta police officers."
While the Atlanta Eagle raid happened more than a year ago, this raid and the officers' behavior were ruled by a federal judge as definite violations of the constitutional rights of the patrons in the bar who were forced to lay on the floor among spilled beer and broken glass while the paramilitary Red Dog Unit illegally searched and detained them. No patrons were charged in the raid and the city eventually settled a federal civil lawsuit in December for more than $1 million.