Documents detail alleged cheating at Atlanta police academy

ATLANTA — Channel 2 Action News has exclusively obtained documents that provide new details about a cheating investigation at the Atlanta Police Academy.

Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne learned that William Lyons, a training instructor turned whistleblower, was moved after he delivered documents about misconduct to state authorities.

Assistant police chief Shawn Jones told Winne that several people were transferred at the same time and that it's a frequent personnel move.

Jones said the move is not retaliation but they are currently investigating it.

A police official tells Winne that Lyons took documents outlining cheating allegations to the state agency that certifies police officers in Georgia because he felt his superiors did not handle the incident properly.

The documents detail various cheating allegations among several cadets during police training - including tip-offs about a use of deadly force simulation.

The documents suggest two recruits hit up a recruit who had been through the academy before to provide "specific details about the shoot/don't shoot scenario test."
Another involved alleged shortcuts in writing bios of classmates.

Out of 53 recruits “there were several who were found to have been dishonest or cheated on th(e) assignment.”

Winne also obtained a letters from police brass. One dated late March said an academy command staff investigation regarding "testing irregularity" involving three recruits had found shortfalls in testing procedures and asked that POST  consider  allowing the recruits to continue training.

“We’ve separated three individuals who were in fact, that we've been able to determine, were cheating,” Jones said. “There are some other situations that are kind of questionable. We turned it over to internal affairs.”

Don English, General Counsel with the Police Benevolent Association, says part of the PBA'S complaint to the city commissioner is that Lyons only got one day's notice of his transfer and the commissioner's office is looking into that.

Jones said, "Everyone should be given the opportunity to get a seven-day notice.”

WSBTV