Mike Register brought several pages of prepared remarks to Wednesday’s East Cobb Civic Association meeting as he aimed to lay out his vision as the newly named Cobb Police Chief.
After detailing his long career in the military and his return to the Cobb PD after serving as Clayton County Police Chief, real-time matters intervened to punctuate Register’s desire to make significant changes in the way officers are trained and how they deal with the public.
An hour before Register’s ECCA address at the East Cobb Library, WSB-TV reported that Lt. Greg Abbott, a 28-year Cobb PD veteran, had been placed on administrative leave after a dash-cam video revealed him making racially charged remarks to a female passenger riding in a car pulled over on a traffic stop in July 2016.
According to what was heard on the video, the white woman reached for her cell phone as Abbott approached, making a reference to police shootings. He said to her: “Remember, we only kill black people. We only kill black people, right?”
In the WSB-TV report, Abbott’s attorney said the officer’s comments were not taken in their proper context, claiming he was trying to defuse the situation.
Register, who succeeded retired chief John Houser in June, told the ECCA gathering that the officer’s comments were “hurtful,” and were “inappropriate in any context and not indicative of the values we’re trying to instill in the Cobb Police Department.”
At one point during his ECCA appearance, Register was summoned out of the room for a few minutes by County Manager Rob Hosack.
UPDATED, 4 p.m. Thursday: At a news conference on Thursday, Register and other county officials said Abbott would be terminated, adding that “it’s not the kind of decision we make lightly.”
On Tuesday, Cobb Police had to respond a WSB-TV report, based on a body-cam video, of an officer shooting at an unarmed teen eight times last November. That officer had already announced his resignation, and the Cobb District Attorney’s office recommended no charges.
Register said the video of that incident prompted him to call for changes in the Cobb PD regarding use of force and firearms training (The suspect’s lawyer is planning a lawsuit, according to the WSB-TV report).
After the second incident, Register admitted in his ECCA remarks that “we’re having some challenges.”
