Four officers in WRPD narcotics unit reinstated, investigation continues

WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — As of Tuesday afternoon, four of the six officers placed on paid administrative leave, under the pretense of an investigation conducted by DA William Kendall, have been reinstated. For the remaining two, the DA continues to investigate the validity of allegations brought forward to him on April 11 — allegations that have not yet been revealed to the public.

According to information provided by the city of Warner Robins and the Houston County District Attorney’s Office, the investigation into these officers began April 12 after allegations came to Kendall the day prior. When interim Police Chief Roy Whitehead was informed of the investigation shortly after it began, all officers within the NIU were put on paid administrative leave.

Speaking with The Journal Monday, Kendall said then that he believed the investigation was contained to just a couple members of the unit. He said he and his office were determined to complete their task quickly and efficiently so that innocent officers could return to their tasks, and justice could be served if necessary.

As of right now, the allegations brought forward against the officers in question have not yet been released by the DA, nor have the officers names. The criminal investigation is being handled specifically by the District Attorney’s Office — according to the DA, WRPD is not involved in this investigation, and may only do an internal review after the criminal investigation has come to a close.

In the result that the DA’s office finds the allegations to be proven true, evidence will be brought forth to a Grand Jury, and the officers in question will have the opportunity to present their case, and then be cross examined by the DA’s office.

According to the Kendall, the investigation may take some additional time before enough evidence is collected to prove the allegations true or false.

“Maybe sooner, but probably at least a couple of weeks — in order to do a good job, to be thorough and accurate, to make sure we have all the information we need to either prosecute or not prosecute, we need to be concise, but also thorough about what we do,” Kendall said. “It was the chief’s decision to put everybody on administrative leave to give the investigation so time to figure out what’s what. I did tell them that as time goes on and we find out more information, that if somebody in the group was able to be cleared, I would certainly let them know that.

“I was able to clear those four people based in interviews that we had set up a week prior to all this hitting the news.”

Finally, Chief Whitehead assured the public in a press release from the city of Warner Robins that his department is continuing to fulfill their duty to the community.

“We are a professional agency held to the highest standards,” Whitehead said. “Our officers are trained to provide support across disciplines within our department. There has been no gap in policing narcotics issues or otherwise in their efforts to keep the citizens of Warner Robins safe.”

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