20-Year Veteran CPD Officer Speaks Out; Says Blackmon’s Words Are ‘Horse Sh*t’
Another veteran officer of the Columbus Police Dept. reached out to the Muckraker to speak up about the dept.’s dangerous staffing issues, saying Chief Blackmon’s claim of the city being properly policed is “complete horse sh*t.” Explore the full story to see how dangerously low CPD’s numbers continue to fall and how it prevents officers from keeping our city safe.
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An artistic expression of the Columbus Georgia Police Department’s badge atop the Thin Blue Line, superimposed on a colorized image of Columbus Police Dept. Officers standing by their vehicles. The department continues to face increasingly-dangerous staffing shortages as officers continue to quit in droves, with 70% of the entire force saying they do not believe Chief Freddie Blackmon is capable of leading the department.
Image Credit:
Muscogee Muckraker
By
Muscogee Muckraker
Published
February 8, 2023
Updated
February 14, 2023 1:55 AM
ET

If you’re an officer or employee of the Columbus Police Department and wish to voice your opinions on the current state of the department, please reach out to the Muckraker. We will privately verify your credentials and will not publish your identity.

COLUMBUS, Ga. — In an exclusive email exchange, a 20-year veteran police officer of the Columbus Police Department has reached out to the Muckraker with information highlighting the severity of the issues faced by the department under police chief Freddie Blackmon.

The officer’s message was received among those of many other officers who strongly feel that police chief Freddie Blackmon is not capable of leading the department.

The officer also commended the accuracy of our previous reporting on how the department’s dangerously-low staffing numbers are now far worse than what is shown by Jensen Hughes in its Nov. 2022 operational study of the department.

Here is what the 20-year veteran officer had to say:

Note: The message below is one of several pieces of correspondence from several CPD officers received by the Muckraker. It has been slightly edited for both grammar and content to maintain the strict anonymity of the officer.

“I am a Columbus Police Officer with over 20 years of service. I appreciate you shedding light on the current total dysfunction within CPD. 

The public has no clue how bad things are, but the public deserves to know. 

I’m glad officers are beginning to speak out. Officers have been saying the same things over and over for some time now, but no one has been listening.

I blame the Mayor and city council. It is my belief that officers are afraid to publicly speak out for fear of retaliation. But as various news outlets begin to cover the story more, it’s slowly exposing the total dysfunction within CPD. 

But even with the recent negative publicity, I am not hopeful that anything will change. If nothing changes soon, CPD will completely sink. 

You (Muscogee Muckraker) covered the number of patrol officers CPD should have with what I think to be accurate numbers. Under a previous administration, anything under 186 patrol officers was considered critical. Now, as you reported, there are under 100 patrol officers, depending on who you ask.

I can say there used to be 36 police beats. The number of police beats has been reduced to 26. There may be discussion to go from beats to quadrants. It’s all smoke and mirrors.

Under the 2008 OLOST or SPLOST (whichever it was) the CPD was allocated enough officers to cover 36 beats with 10 extra officers per shift. So, there should be a minimum of 46 police officers covering the city on each of the 3 patrol shifts. 

As of late, it is not unusual to have less than one dozen officers covering the entire city. 

When Chief Blackmon says every beat is covered, that’s complete horse sh*t. 

How can 26 police beats be covered with less than a dozen police officers working at some times? 

The patrol numbers have slightly increased due to taking officers from other units to work patrol, but that too is backfiring in some cases.

At least 2 officers that were transferred back to patrol resigned. One officer completely resigned and the other officer was hired by the Muscogee County Sheriff's Office (MCSO).

 As you (Muscogee Muckraker) mentioned, the Special Operations Unit has been gutted. The highly specialized patrol officers assigned to that unit have been transferred back to patrol.

There are now two “agents” left in the Special Operations Unit. That unit needs at least 20 officers/agents to operate in a meaningful manner. Drugs/gangs are a huge problem in Columbus, and now there are two agents left to deal with drug investigations; not practical, and not safe.

Also, if anyone has noticed, the number of citizens speeding/driving recklessly is out of control in the city. That’s because there is hardly any time for traffic enforcement.

The Motor Squad/Traffic Unit (motorcycle cops) is practically non-existent. The Motor Squad used to be the pride of CPD. The Motor Squad should have at least 18 officers to be fully staffed. Now, there are 2 Motor Sergeants and 4 motorcycle cops. Not to mention, the tag reader squad (a sergeant and two officers) have been transferred back to patrol. In addition, the bicycle patrol is allotted six officers and one sergeant. Currently, there are no full time bicycle officers. 

The rapid decline of CPD is troubling and unfathomable. Something has to change. Morale is at an all-time low. Officers have applications in for other jobs and are just waiting on phone calls. More officers will be leaving CPD over the coming months.

I appreciate your coverage of these issues. I hope you will continue your coverage. The Jensen Hughes study should officially be presented to city council this month. It will be interesting to see how that is perceived, but that council has had the study for several weeks already.

Thanks again and Godspeed. I trust that any CPD employee speaking out will remain completely anonymous out of fear of retaliation.”

//———End of Officer’s Message ———//

If you’re an officer or employee of the Columbus Police Department and wish to voice your opinions on the current state of the department, please reach out to the Muckraker. We will privately verify your credentials and will not publish your identity.

Facts are stubborn things — and we’ll keep publishing them, whether city officials like them or not.

-30-

© 2023 Muscogee Muckraker. All rights reserved.

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