SOUTH FULTON, Ga. — A former police officer claims he had no choice but to resign after he says he was retaliated against for doing his job. Now, he is suing the city and its public safety director for retaliation.
City officials told Channel 2’s Tyisha Fernandes that the allegations are false and egregious and said they will explore their own options through the legal process.
The former officer, Cecil Hutchins, says city leaders are hiding something and that’s why they stopped his investigation and disbanded the corruption unit.
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“It’s a little bit intimidating, but once you feel like what you’re doing is right, it kind of goes out the window,” Hutchins said.
Hutchins, who is related to a Channel 2 Action News employee, became a City of South Fulton police officer in 2022.
In 2025, he was promoted to detective in the corruption unit and is now suing the City and Public Safety Director Dr. Cedric Alexander.
In the lawsuit, Hutchins says city employee Hal Moon admitted to stealing city funds.
“Once I told [then-Police Chief Keith] Meadows, we did a search warrant on Hal Moon’s phone. That’s when we saw Hal Moon was actually tipped off before we got to him by a councilwoman, Keosha Bell,” Hutchins described.
Hutchins says Bell sent Moon text messages in the middle of a city council executive session and named the informant in the case.
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Hutchins says that when he tried to get warrants to arrest Bell, he says the city manager stopped him, so he went to the FBI.
At one point, Hutchins, Dr. Alexander and some other officers met with the FBI to discuss the case.
“Two weeks later, my whole unit is kicked off and disbanded,” Hutchins said. “He took my police operating equipment vehicle and then he gave me a Jeep that had no lights, no sirens, no internet.”
City officials would not sit down for an interview about this pending litigation, but Mayor Carmalitha Gumbs shared a statement.
“Our residents will always have a city government that acts with integrity, accountability and urgency...Our commitment is to protect public trust, support our employees, respect due process and take swift action where action is required,” she wrote.
Bell is not facing charges, but did not have a comment when Fernandes reached out.
Alexander says that he is named in the lawsuit and cannot comment on pending litigation.
Councilwoman Bell shared a statement with Channel 2 Action News on Thursday that read,
“Recent statements made by former employee Cecil Hutchins are false, and I categorically deny them.
The claims being circulated do not reflect the facts and should not be accepted as an accurate account of events. Because there are pending investigations, I am legally constrained from commenting on specific allegations or discussing details of those proceedings.
At this time, my singular focus is to serve the people of the City of South Fulton. I will continue to lead with integrity, respect for the law, and confidence that the truth will prevail."
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