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Lithonia City Council fired police chief the same day he tried to resign, documents show

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Documents obtained by Channel 2 Action News show the Lithonia City Council fired its police chief on the same day he tried to resign.

Former police Chief Roosevelt Smith was fired on May 7 after city Councilman Ric Dodd accused Smith of running his name through the Georgia Crime Information Center database to look into someone’s background, which he didn’t have the legal authority to do.

In the documents, Lithonia police officers made several allegations against the former chief including retaliation, creating a hostile work environment and promoting unqualified employees.

It also says there are 33 people left the department under the former chief’s leadership.

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When Channel 2's Tyisha Fernandes spoke to Smith on the phone, he said the council has yet to prove that he did anything wrong.

According to the documents, city officials put Smith on leave in February and hired an outside investigator to look into several allegations made against Smith.

Before the investigations were concluded, the council fired Smith.

Fernandes requested all the documents pertaining to his termination.

Officers accused Smith of retaliation on them. They alleged Smith violated city policy, saying he made questionable promotions and they said he created a hostile work environment to the point where 33 employees left under Smith’s leadership.

Fernandes went straight to City Hall to speak with Mayor Deborah Jackson about this new information.

She refused to come out of her office and speak. The mayor said she'd talk at some point but not right now.

One week after the council terminated Smith, he took a job as a Fulton County investigator but when Fulton officials found out that Smith is still under investigation, it caused problems.

On Thursday, Smith resigned from that position.